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LA Silver Lake Neighborhood Removes ‘U-Turn’ Signs
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LA Silver Lake Neighborhood Removes ‘U-Turn’ Signs

Los Angeles City Council members have come under fire for reportedly removing “no U-turn” signs from a gay neighborhood, amid concerns that the signs could be perceived as “homophobic.” This decision sparked a wave of reactions on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

According to a report by a Los Angeles NBC News affiliate, the signs in question were originally installed in 1997 following complaints from local residents about gay men “cruising” in the residential areas near popular gay bars. Alongside these signs, several “no cruising” signs were also erected, which were later removed in 2011 after a Silver Lake Neighborhood Council vote.

The push to remove the remaining “no U-turn” signs was initiated by a constituent who brought the issue to Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman. Raman explained how the process began: “A podcast mentioned that there had been ‘No Cruising’ signs along Hyperion that had been removed in 2011, but that nine signs still remained on Griffith Park Boulevard. Our very own Silver Lake constituent, Donovan Daughtry, heard the episode, and in May of 2022 he reached out to our Silver Lake Field Deputy at the time.”

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez collaborated with Raman to remove the signs, acknowledging that he had not initially understood their impact. “For me, growing up in South Central Los Angeles, cruising had a very different meaning. It usually meant folks in their lowriders or their cars, a lot of hip-hop music, just going up down Crenshaw Boulevard. But here in Silver Lake, cruising, of course, meant something very different. It meant an opportunity for the LGBT community to try to find human connection and intimacy and to be able to express themselves in a society at the time that was not very welcoming to the LGBT community. The last two no U-Turn signs remind us of that troubled past that we have here in this neighborhood,” he explained.

However, the decision was met with criticism and confusion, with many arguing that the general public was largely unaware of any connection between “no U-turn” signs and the LGBTQ community. Riley Gaines tweeted, “The best part of this is that literally *no one* would know ‘no u-turn’ signs have ever meant anything other than no u-turn. I’ve never seen a group that so desperately WANTS to be ‘oppressed’ or ‘marginalized.'”

Another user sarcastically commented, “Got rid of Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben & replaced Dr. Seuss with Billy Blows Bobby & it’s still not enough. Congratulations on defeating the U-turn signs. Nothing will satisfy the left’s insatiable appetite for destruction.”

Written by Arthur Higgens - June 17, 2024