We did it!! You did it!!
Morris Kight’s 4th Street is Los Angeles’ newest Historic-Cultural Monument!!!!
WE DID IT!!
WE DID IT!!
On August 8th, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted to designate Morris’ home a Historic-Cultural Monument. Thank you to everyone who wrote, spoke, called, wore one of our cool buttons. We did this together and we will never forget it. This is truly one of the most bittersweet wins we’ve ever had.
what you can do now:
Copy/paste or customize the letter below and email the City Councilmembers:
Dear Los Angeles City Councilmembers,
Please vote yes to make Morris Kight’s 4th Street Residence an Historic-Cultural Monument.
Everyone I know is either scared, depressed or angry (or all of the above), especially me and my LGBTQ family and friends. Denying HCM designation to Morris Kight’s 4th Street house would not only be wrong (because the house has already been judged and found historic) but it will also send the wrong message (Los Angeles must stay vigilant against LGBTQ bias).
At least 417 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the United States since the start of 2023 — a new record, according to American Civil Liberties Union data as of April 3. That’s already more than twice the number of such bills introduced all of last year. And 24 bills that restrict LGBTQ rights have passed in 11 states.
Morris Kight fought for all of us. His home at 1822 4th Street is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement. Kight’s home was a gay community services center, an outreach center and a meeting place for grassroots activists, actions and causes. Kight co-founded the Gay Liberation Front/Los Angeles chapter (1969) and held their meetings at his 4th Street house; one of their actions was to force the American Psychiatric Association to stop listing homosexuality as a mental illness. Kight personally ran the first ever LGBT crisis hotline. The first ever gay pride parade was conceived and planned at 1822 4th Street. And the first ever Gay Community Services Center (1971) was born from the services center at Kight’s home (and would grow into the country’s largest LGBT services center).
I urge you to do the right thing. Please vote yes to make Morris Kight Residence 1822 W. 4th Street an Historic-Cultural Monument at the June 6th hearing.
Sincerely,
Celebrate with PRIDE
1.
Here are the Councilmembers and staff email addresses to copy/paste:
councilmember.hernandez@lacity.org, helen.campbell@lacity.org,
councilmember.Krekorian@lacity.org,
councilmember.blumenfield@lacity.org,
contactCD4@lacity.org,
councilmember.yaroslavsky@lacity.org, dylan.sittig@lacity.org,
councildistrict6@lacity.org,
Councilmember.Rodriguez@lacity.org, paola.bassignana@lacity.org,
councilmember.harris-dawson@lacity.org, kidada.malloy@lacity.org,
councilmember.price@lacity.org,
cd10@lacity.org, hakeem.parke-davis@lacity.org,
councilmember.park@lacity.org,
councilmember.lee@lacity.org, dan.rosales@lacity.org,
councilmember.soto-martinez@lacity.org,
councilmember.kevindeleon@lacity.org,
councilmember.mcosker@lacity.org,
clerk.CPS@lacity.org
2.
Remember to verify your comment in your email or else it won’t be submitted :(
3.
Make your voice heard
History happened here.
What we’ve done so far
We’ve been in this fight for years. A fraction of the time Morris and his colleagues fought for LGBT social services and visibility; the services and visibility we stand on today. City Council needs to designate the home where it all started - Morris’ 4th Street. If you are in our community or pay attention to the news, you know our fight is ongoing. It’s crucial to save this house and let it stand as a monument to our history and the good fight that will continue.
August 8th, 2023 at City Council
We did it! Morris Kight’s 4th Street is Los Angeles’ newest Historic-Cultural Monument!! It was a nail-biter. We couldn’t have done it without AHF, the Los Angeles Conservancy, the LGBT Center, and the 100s of people who spoke up. We are forever grateful!
SPEAK UP AND EMAIL!
Did you know that less than 1% of all designated HCMs in Los Angeles represent LGBTQ+ heritage?
Next hearing will happen around August 8th.
June 7th, 2023 at City Council
Councilmember Hernandez called our nomination, our fight, an HCM designation for Morris Kight’s 4th Street home a “land-use issue.” Councilmember Rodriguez and others went toe-to-toe. The owner requested a 60-day extension which was granted.
3-1 vote in favor of HCM at PLUM
June 6th, 2023
We got through Planning Commission! Councilmember Hernandez tried to get it continued which would have killed our nomination. After a locked vote on killing our nomination, we got the votes needed to got o Council the next day.
City Council 15-day extension
2023
We are fighting for City Council and Council District 1 to see us. To see that this building needs to stand. It needs to be designated and protected.
Cultural Heritage Commission hearings
2020
We presented our research to the Cultural Heritage Commission and they voted twice, unanimously recommending to the City Council to include 4th Street in the city’s list of Historic-Cultural Monument.
Planning and Land Use Management committee
2020-present
Rather than taking the recommendation from the Cultural Heritage Commission, our nomination has been held up by discussions with the developer and City Council District 1.
Wrote the Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument nomination
2020
We researched and wrote the HCM nomination when we saw the pending demolition permit on the house.
History happened here.
Email or call the LA City Council directly:
City Councilmembers:
CD1: Eunisses Hernandez
CD2: Paul Krekorian
CD3: Bob Blumenfield
CD4: Nithya Raman
CD5: Katy Yaroslavsky
CD6: (vacant)
CD7: Monica Rodriguez
CD8: Marqueece Harris-Dawson
CD9: Curren D. Price Jr
CD10: Heather Hutt
CD11: Traci Park
CD12: John Lee
CD:13 Hugo Soto-Martinez
CD14: Kevin deLeon
D15: Tim McOsker
Emails:
councilmember.hernandez@lacity.org,
councilmember.Krekorian@lacity.org,
councilmember.blumenfield@lacity.org,
contactCD4@lacity.org,
councilwoman.yaroslavsky@lacity.org,
councildistrict6@lacity.org,
Councilmember.Rodriguez@lacity.org,
councilmember.harris-dawson@lacity.org,
councilmember.price@lacity.org,
cd10@lacity.org,
councilmember.park@lacity.org,
councilmember.lee@lacity.org,
councilmember.soto-martinez@lacity.org,
councilmember.kevindeleon@lacity.org,
councilmember.mcosker@lacity.org
Phone numbers:
213-473-7001
213-473-7002
818-774-4330
213-473-7004
323-866-1828
818-778-4999
213-473-7007
213-485-7616
323-846-2651
213-473-7010
310-568-8772
818-882-1212
213-207-3015
213-473-7014
323-568-2083
Gay Liberation Front/Los Angeles
The GLF used the power of media to broadcast its message. A message that could enter any person’s home on nightly news and be a beacon for the majority of gays who were still oppressed.
Gay Community Services Center
Kight was keenly aware of the LGBT community not having equal access to social services. For years, he had widely distributed his name, phone number, and address in order to connect gay men in need of social services to the appropriate doctor, lawyer, or public health worker. The emphasis of the center was on the word “community;” it implied “a group of people in which a person received according to his/her needs and gives according to his/her ability.” Gay doctors, nurses and technicians had the opportunity to serve their brothers and sisters. The Gay Community Services Center is now the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
Christopher Street West
The CSW march and parade kicked open the proverbial closet doors on America and out sprung a new force to be recognized. CSW was the declaration of pride and freedom for Los Angeles’ gay population. It was a model for other gay prides across the world. After the parade, the formerly anti-gay magazine Hollywood Citizen News, called Kight “a river to his people.”
“So marched we did, with butterflies in our stomachs, with legitimate doubts and fears, but with enormous courage and devotion.”
Morris’ phone line
GLF/LA calls were handled out of Kight’s Westlake home. Kight brought on volunteers to manage and staff the phone line and handled about two hundred calls a day. He told his volunteers that “every call is priceless, every call is important…[it is] the most urgent call you’ve ever had in your life.” Phone calls ranged from when the meetings were scheduled, how to get out of a bad arrest or a bad marriage, how to get custody of property or children, or who would treat a venereal disease without reporting it to the public health office. This one-to-one social service would soon be the beginning of the Gay Survival Committee, which eventually turned into the Gay Community Service Center (GCSC).
“Every call is priceless, every call is important…[it is] the most urgent call you’ve ever had in your life”
Ready to join the fight?
This is a movement of billions. We are everywhere. We will not stand as our history is erased. Take action and write City Council.
If we do not act now, this house will be demolished.
See our sample letter at the top of the page. Copy/paste or use it as inspiration to create something new.