Santacruzgay
With its breathtaking setting at the northern end of Monterey Bay, vibrant and progressive Santa Cruz County makes a fabulous and friendly destination for a compact getaway. You&#;ll find a wealth of outdoorsy diversions, engaging cultural attractions, and festive dining and drinking spots. For the ultimate weekend adventure, follow this detailed plan for making the most of three days in this LGBTQ-welcoming region that&#;s within an easy mile drive of San Francisco.
Day 1
After checking into your hotel, head to downtown Santa Cruz&#;s lively Abbott Square, an indoor-outdoor plaza anchored by colorful Abbott Square Market, where meal stalls offer up everything from Cajun shrimp-and-corn étouffée to thin-crust Neapolitan pizzas to cardamom tea cakes. Off one corner of the square, check out the always engaging exhibits inside the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, whose programming often explores the region&#;s rich cultural diversity. Running through April 24, and co-created with the city&#;s Diversity Center, the museum is currently presenting &#;Queer Santa Cruz&#; a
Years in the making, The Neighbor’s gives LGBTQ+ society a long-awaited lock to belly up to
Quick Take
Thursday night’s very well attended soft opening of The Neighbor’s pub downtown was the culmination of seven years of function by owner Frankie Farr to deliver Santa Cruz’s Gay community a principal gathering spot.
The evening after the gentle opening of The Neighbor’s in downtown Santa Cruz, the new bar’s owner, Frankie Farr, sat alone in a spacious booth the color of red velvet cake.
“I don’t know what I’m feeling right now,” said Farr (who uses the pronouns they/them) in a haze of exhaustion and relief. The evening before, Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley and City Councilmember Sonja Brunner participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the business tucked neatly between The Asti and the Oceanview Card Room on drop Pacific Avenue. The two city officials did their official business in the presence of a crowd of at least people waiting to be the first to call on Santa Cruz’s latest and now only LGBTQ+-oriented watering hole.
Before the darkness was over, more than people had co
Santa Cruz LGBTQ City Guide
Santa Cruz is a lovely, coastal California city famous for its laid-back, hip, progressive vibe, with a well-organized and very welcoming gay community. It’s a city known for its rugged mountains, beautiful redwood forests, and stunning sandy beaches. If you’re thinking of calling Santa Cruz home, you’ll find plenty about it to love!
A Look at Santa Cruz’s History
Santa Cruz, like much of California, was initially home to Native American peoples, before the arrival of the Spanish in the late s. In specifically, Spanish explorer Don Gaspar del Portal discovered the area now acknowledged as Santa Cruz – the name meaning, “Holy Cross.” Religious missions were established in the area, which eventually became part of Mexican, and then United States territory. Santa Cruz was the twenty-seventh original county in California. When the railroad came to the area, tourism began to boom. That, along with the establishment of the University of California at Santa Cruz encouraged continued growth in the area. Today, San
Queer Santa Cruz
Explore the important contributions, impact, and history of Santa Cruz County's LGBTQ+ society in a pop-up exhibit co-created with The Diversity Center.
Due to the impacts of COVID and the shelter in place direct , this exhibit is the MAH's first online exhibition. Debuting online in , the in-person exhibit opened in October and is on display in the History Gallery through September Browse archival photographs, flyers, testimonies, and ephemera in this breakout pod within the Permanent Santa Cruz County History Gallery. Acquire how the LGBTQ+ society worked to generate empathy and understanding throughout Santa Cruz County and are now working to archive their history in a permanent collection.
Plus, view and listen to the Trailblazers Oral History Venture sponsored by the History Forum's Dolkas-Mertz Award. This collection of oral histories documents the local Diverse community, honoring the people who championed the movements and empowered the people.
Meet our Collaborators
The Diversity Center, founded in , is an organization that impa