Cops Target O.C. Gay
Bowling Night

Gay party animals in Orange County -- that bastion of white conservatism just south of the Los Angeles melting pot -- are accusing cops of discrimination after they busted up a popular bowling/disco party.

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

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Neal Broverman

March 16 2009 12:00 AM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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Gay party animals in Orange County -- that bastion of white conservatism just south of the Los Angeles melting pot -- are accusing cops of discrimination after they busted up a popular bowling/disco party.

Spin Tuesdays was a hit for two months, bringing revelers to the Lucky Strikes Lanes in Orange, where gays, lesbians, and straight friends would pitch bowling balls while DJs spun pop music. But according to the Los Angeles Times , the event was shut down the week before last when O.C. cops told Lucky Strike's management they could be ticketed, even arrested, for allowing dancing, live entertainment, and outside promotions without a permit. One of the party's promoters, 34-year-old Zach Moos, told the Times that other nights at the bowling alley were left alone, yet this gay event was targeted.

Police are denying discrimination, saying Spin Tuesdays was simply too well-attended. There have been no complaints about the event from locals, but police say the event attracts about 500 people, with a line usually snaking outside the bowling alley. Gays and lesbians in the O.C. have recently found a dearth of gay nightclub and bar options -- the famous Boom Boom Room in Laguna Beach closed in 2007. And even though Orange County has been immortalized in glamorous shows like The OC, The Real Housewives of Orange County, and Laguna Beach -- which introduced the world to Lauren Conrad, or LC, who went on to fame in The Hills -- the county is still a bastion of conservatism, voting handily for Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California.