THE LAVENDER EFFECT® offers LGBTQ+ History Tours for Students, Educators, Businesses, and Community Groups. Current offerings include the “Walk In Our Shoes” tour of Downtown Los Angeles, “LGBT-Tinseltown” tour of Hollywood, and “WeHo Rainbow” tour of West Hollywood. Discover how these unique locations gave birth to a rich, vibrant and little-known LGBTQ+ history. Explore how Los Angeles County has frequently been the first and most impactful region in the global fight for equality. Our talented and professional staff will customize excursion(s) for participants of all ages, education levels, and backgrounds.
SINGLE LOCATION WALKING TOURS
$450 (10-15 people) or $600 (16-20 people) or $750 (21-25)
DOUBLE LOCATION WALKING TOURS
$675 (10-15 people) or $900 (16-20 people) or $1,125 (21-25 people)
(above fees do not include transportation costs)
Email Info@TheLavenderEffect.org or call (818) 824-4305 for more information.
TOUR DESCRIPTIONS
The “Walk In Our Shoes” tour of Downtown Los Angeles houses the most rich and vibrant LGBTQ+ history this region has to offer. From the gay friendly Native Americans who first settled the land centuries before Columbus arrived, to LA’s first gay porn theatre that opened in the 1800’s, to the grand hotels and bath houses that sated the secret desires of the Hollywood elite. Enjoy a two-hour walk as you discover that DTLA has always been the most fierce city in the fight for equality.
The “LGBTinseltown” tour of Hollywood starts in the middle of The Hollywood Walk of Fame. From there we hit the streets to dig up the dirt on decades of closeted stars, underground pansy bars, and gay rights battle scars. You’ll explore from the initial footfalls of LA’s 1st Gay PRIDE march to the secret tunnels that lie underneath the Walk of Fame. Participants will see things like the hair salon that created Judy Garland’s look for the The Wizard of OZ, and the nightclub where Joan Crawford entered weekly contests as a dancer so she could eat that week. We’ll tell you what The Church of Scientology is hiding in it’s basement, show you RuPaul’s fabulous art deco offices, and so much more.
Most international travelers know it as Boystown now, but we’ll dig up and dish so much more. The “WeHo Rainbow” tour of West Hollywood is 1.9 square miles of incredible gay history. Find out where Judy Garland used to hang with her “lavender lads,” pass the home of the first pair of assless chaps, see the bar where the phrase “lipstick lesbian” was first uttered, and hear how the town got the zip code 90069. Before WeHo became an independent city, this area was out of jurisdiction of the LAPD, so some wild times went on starting at the turn of the century.
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