34 Photos of Active and Former L.A. Cruising Sites by Rubén Esparza

In May 2019, as a counterpoint to corporate Pride celebrations, artist Rubén Esparza presented photos of famous cruising sites around L.A.

Esparza presented a photographic essay (complete with bodily fluids), depicting active and former cruising sites around Los Angeles, titled "Ghosted: Cruising/No Cruising" as part of NO CRUISING events at NAVEL LA. Esparza's exhibition was dedicated to Antebellum Gallery, Circus of Books, and the very active TOM House (Tom of Finland Foundation).

A decade before Stonewall and 3,000 miles across the country, one of the first LGBTQ+ uprisings against police happened in Los Angeles. At 547 South Main Street -- located between gay bars Harold's and the Waldorf in the heart of downtown -- stood Cooper Donuts. In May of 1959, the popular after-hours hotspot was rocked by furious salvos of flying donuts, scalding coffee, and paper plates when a ragtag crew of queers led by drag queens, trans people, hustlers, and perverts revolted against the LAPD's routine harassment. Despite its relative success, this under-documented riot remains largely unknown to this day -- both within and outside of queer circles.

TOM House (Tom of Finland Foundation), 2015

Commemorating the 60th anniversary of 1959's Cooper Donuts Riot, NO CRUISING was a multi-day event of skill shares, sound walks, performances, installations, and discussions exploring queer histories and strategies of resistance to the carceral state. The exhibit was an antidote to state-sanctioned Pride celebrations, raising awareness around the ongoing policing of queers - especially people of color, trans and non-binary people, and sex workers. The title refers to a 1997 City Ordinance that legitimized increased surveillance of individuals from these same communities.

NO CRUISING's inaugural three-day program included workshops with the 5C Prison Abolition Collective, dancer Andrew Pearson and yoga instructor Grant Saunders, a DTLA walking tour with political artist and educator Irina Contreras, and a panel discussion on Pride, Prisons & the Police State with Ashlee Marie Preston, Rojas and Alex Espinoza, among other events.

TOM House (Tom of Finland Foundation), 2015

Ruben Esparza is an LA-based artist and independent curator whose practice includes painting and the creation of both analog and digital works engaging elements of Conceptualism, ethnicity and queer culture. His artworks live in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Santa Barbara Museum, the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, to name just a few. His curatorial work focuses on under-represented artists primarily in queer and ethnic communities. He is both founder and director of the Queer Biennial, an arts exhibition anchored in Los Angeles with satellites in New York, Mexico, Miami, Paris, and Zurich.