LA vs NYC
Two British expats fight it out to crown LA or NYC as the best place to relocate stateside
BY RICHARD BENCE
IN LOVE WITH LA LA LAND
BY RICHARD BENCE
MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH CALIFORNIA started in 1994 when I discovered Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, or possibly before: watching Hart to Hart. I so wanted to be Stefanie Powers, zooming around in that convertible.
Maupin’s tale opened up a portal to a magical land, a gay utopia. Aged 18, I had never seen a depiction of a happy gay life. It touched my soul and gave me hope. I always knew that one day I would live in this fabled paradise. Twenty years later, I moved to Los Angeles. The look and feel of LA is exhilarating but it’s the history that excites me, with its magical hideaway homes teetering on stilts, atop perilous hilltop bluff s, that once belonged to stars such as Liz Taylor, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe.
Less known is that Los Angeles played a significant part in the fight for gay civil rights. The Stonewall riots in New York, in 1969, are widely regarded as the genesis of the modern LGBT rights movement. But in truth the Black Cat protest in Silverlake two years earlier is where it all began.
For a glimpse into a bygone era, make sure you visit the home of revolutionary artist Touko Laaksonen, in Echo Park. You might know him better by his pseudonym: Tom of Finland. The house is one of the world’s most authentic historical gay landmarks.