L.A. Gay Club Oil Can Harry’s Is Designated Historic-Cultural Monument
This article originally appeared on Q Voice News and is shared here as part of an LGBTQ+ community exchange between Q Voice News and Pride Media.Oil Can Harry’s, the legendary Studio City bar and nightclub that closed in 2021, was recognized earlier this month for its historic and social significance to the San Fernando Valley and the LGBTQ+ community.The Los Angeles City Council designated the building a historic-cultural monument in a 14-0 vote.
Councilman Joe Buscaino was absent.Of the more than 1,200 Historic-Cultural Monuments in the City of Angels, Oil Can Harry’s is only the third LGBTQ+ structure that has received the designation.
The Black Cat in Silver Lake was the first in 2008.Oil Can Harry’s, which opened in 1968 and was the longest-running LGBTQ+ bar in Los Angeles, closed after the property owner sold it to a buyer who did not want to continue operating it as a gay bar.“When Oil Can Harry’s opened in Studio City in 1968, it was illegal in Los Angeles for two men or two women to dance together,” 2nd District Councilman Paul Krekorian, who initiated the effort to secure monument status for the site that’s located in his district, said in a statement.“At a time when LGBTQ people were routinely subjected to police harassment and even arrest, Oil Can Harry’s was a place of refuge for LGBTQ people,” Krekorian said.
