![]() “We equate it to about four weeks worth of work in a day,” Darling said of Sunday, the day of the Pride parade. Wirtz said that there are three days of “nonstop traffic” down Broadway during Pride, which is particularly amplified on Sunday, according to Jeff Darling, who owns long standing gay bars Mineshaft and The Brit on East Broadway alongside his wife Rhonda. The celebration is a key time of year for many of the owners of gay bars on East Broadway, long recognized as a major hub for the LGBTQ community in Long Beach.įor these bars and similar establishments, the event means huge boosts in business through an influx of traffic. “You couldn’t really even touch each other.”Īcceptance of LGBTQ establishments and activities by the community has taken tremendous steps since then, highlighted most recently by the three-day Long Beach Pride event this past weekend. ![]() ![]() “When we first opened up, the cops would come here all the time to check on us,” Wirtz said. As the General Manager of The Falcon-a gay bar that opened in Long Beach in 1996-Wirtz remembers how wary people were during its initial days. Craig Wirtz still remembers a time when it was hardly accepted to open a bar catering to the LGBTQ community.
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