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Queer

Tarot Cards and Swing Dancing Unite Queer Women of LA

Yezmin Villarreal

<p>Yezmin always has a coffee in her hand. She's a writer from Phoenix, AZ, who is interested in the intersection of race, sex, and gender in pop culture.</p>

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Yezmin Villarreal

YezYes

December 02 2015 12:43 PM EST

November 08 2024 5:43 AM EST

At a house in the historic Filipino neighborhood of Los Angeles, Keely Weiss, the creator of Rainbow Fish, is sitting on the back porch, handing out name tags with a space for preferred gender pronouns to each guest who enters through the back door to Rainbow Fish, a monthly queer mixer in Los Angeles that features tarot card readings, speed mingling, swing dancing, board games and an open mic.

West Hollywood, Los Angeles' gay neighborhood, is home to 25 gay bars within its two-mile radius. But a lesbian bar or a space for queer women? You won't find that in LA. WeHo was once home to Los Angeles' lone lesbian bar, The Palms, a historical spot that remained open for 50 years, but shut its doors in 2013.

Although gay clubs in Los Angeles host weekly "girls' nights," Weiss wanted to provide an alternative to the WeHo club/bar scene, where women may gather without the social pressures nightlife and alcohol bring. Waiting around for the community that you wish existed isn't productive, and Weiss has taken that into her own hands by creating a safe space for queer women to meet free from "assumptions of intent, interest, or inclination."

Watch our mini-doc on Rainbow Fish below: