It’s the end of an era for Los Angeles lesbians: Famed Friday night girl partyTruck Stop at Here Lounge has been officially cancelled. Linda Fusco and Michelle Agnew, founders of FUSEevents and creators of Truck Stop posted the following message to their Facebook page:
Fans of the Friday night queer lady mainstay have already expressed grief and outrage at losing one of the only regular girl nights in West Hollywood. This news hits me on a personal note: as a fledgling baby queer new to Los Angeles, I frequented Truck Stop weekly. I moved from Louisiana to Los Angeles nine years ago, and naively thought it would be easy to find free standing lesbian bars and clubs. Maybe I watched too much of The L Word, but I really did believe that I would find my IRL version of She Bar or The Planet. For myself and countless other queer women, Truck Stop was that place.
Truck Stop was the site of countless dates, birthdays, and group hangs. You just got dumped by your girlfriend? Dance it off at Truck Stop! You finally got that dream job? Celebrate at Truck Stop! You need to make out with that gorgeous butch right the fuck now? Push her up against the bathroom wall at Truck Stop! (OK, that last one might have been me).
The influence of Truck Stop expanded far beyond the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Robertson. Truck Stop was featured on the LOGO series Gimme Sugar, aka the first lesbian reality series ever.
The shocking cancellation of Truck Stop is symptomatic of a larger issue: the disappearance of queer female social spaces. 2013 saw the closing of The Palms Bar, one of the oldest lesbian bars in America (it was even featured on The L Word as the site of Jenny and Dana’s ill-fated date). Some have been quick to point out that the rise of online social groups/communities somehow eliminates the need for brick and mortar safe spaces, but that doesn’t seem to have any effect on the booming male club scene in West Hollywood. Hopefully, Truck Stop will be resurrected somewhere soon. In the meantime, I guess I’ll be dancing on the bar of my local Starbucks.
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