“There has always been a changing scene,” Hilderbrand said. The most notable of these in Orange County was Laguna Beach’s Boom Boom Room, which closed in 2007 but reopens occasionally for special events.
The few traditional gay bars around the county that remain have become, in many ways, isolated pockets of the LGBTQ community, according to Lucas Hilderbrand, a film and media studies professor at UC Irvine. “We stay open mainly because of our longevity and the history that we have,” Heier said. Heier said that if it wasn’t for the fact that she owns the building, the Frat House might not still be in business. These days, their customers tend to be majority Latino men, and while they used to be open 365 days of the year, they’re now closed Tuesdays because there isn’t enough business.ĭating apps, social media, escalating real estate costs sparked by gentrification, and increasing acceptance of the gay community are leading to less patronage of traditional gay bars, which must also compete with the predominantly straight bars’ gay night promotions. “Everybody knows when you’re going to Garden Grove and you’re gay you’re going to the Frat House because that’s the only thing open, gay, in Garden Grove,” said Monique Chantel Dupre, a drag performer featured in the “Frat House” documentary, which bowed at the recent Newport Beach Film Festival. There was also Climax, Proud Mary, Stage Door, the Old Bavarian Inn, DJ’s Discotheque, Tex’s Corner, Tiki Hut and the Gasp. They had names like the Mug, the Happy Hour, DOK West, the Upbeat, Rumour Hazzit and the Knotty Keg. Though historically conservative Garden Grove - as recently as last Tuesday the City Council rejected a motion to fly a rainbow flag at City Hall, but agreed to light up a clock tower in the same colors for Pride Month - doesn’t have the welcoming reputation of, say, Laguna Beach, Long Beach or Santa Ana, it once boasted as many as 15 gay bars, according to a recent documentary. The place doesn’t open until 8 p.m., but Shelly Heier and Cris McKnight - “two straight chicks running a gay bar,” they quip - are busiest in the afternoons, getting the place clean, stocked and ready for patrons. It’s a Wednesday afternoon at the Frat House.īottles in plastic crates clink as they’re hefted from trucks and dollies and carried into the stockroom of the dimly-lit bar tucked between a church and a multipurpose lot.īirthday party decorations - gold and white balloon centerpieces joined with gold foil stars - from a recent celebration still hang in the main room.