To say that gays are responsible for an influx and success of fine dining establishments, women feeling safe in bars and the "cleaning" up neighborhoods that would be otherwise blighted is absurd.
Apparently, the gays and lesbians in Laguna Beach don't represent your theory.
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LAGUNA BEACH, August 12, 2006 - The Boom Boom Room, Laguna Beach's longstanding gay bar, is scheduled to close next month to make way for an upscale hotel and restaurant.
"This is the heart of the gay community," Richard Barry told The Los Angeles Times on a recent night out at the club on South Coast Highway. "The other gay bars are starting points, but this is where we end up."
The news is being met with anger by those who see more than just a bar closing. Some say it symbolizes the gradual shrinking of Laguna Beach's gay community -- thanks largely to skyrocketing housing prices.
Now an aging building, the Boom Boom Room was where Rock Hudson once partied.
"Laguna, like West Hollywood, is becoming de-ghettoized," said Kirk Luetkehans, a doctor from Los Angeles, sitting at the bar of the Boom Boom. "It's a double-edged sword. You don't have to look over your shoulder as much, but part of me misses the community the way it was."
Fred Karger, a retired Republican political consultant and former actor, is gathering signatures to persuade the city and new owner to keep it open.
"It's a symbol for us ... This is history, and you don't erase history without a fight," he said. "This is a battle for the heart and soul of gay life here."
Over the past six years, the property has changed hands several times. Patrick O'Loughlin and Steve Marchese bought the 24-room Coast Inn and the adjoining Boom Boom Room property for $2 million in 2000 but struggled to make it work as the town's gay population dwindled.
"At the time, the demographics were there to support the place, but our experience shows that the demographics have shifted," O'Loughlin said. "I saw a huge decline in the gay population -- maybe 50 percent -- and you didn't get more gays in to replenish it. This has become a place where the super-rich live."
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=4456292