Mapping Out Resistance

This is a guest post by Sierra Rivera, a MA student in the Department of American Studies at California State University. Fullerton. Over the course of a semester during the Spring of 2020, Rivera was a Graduate Research Assistant on MGG. She transcribed thousands of entries in the 1970s Damron guides. Here, she reflects on the Damron guides as a form of resistance and her experiences working on a digital history project.

Fig. 1 Advertisement for Melrose Baths in the 1979 edition of the Damron Guide.

Being born and raised in California all my life, a sense of pride filled me the first time I saw how many pages California had in The Damron Address Books. Listings grew from 1965 to 1980, with advertisements creating a glimpse of the ideal outing for the gay community. Bars, restaurants, cruisy areas, bookstores, and bath Houses are all queer spaces that became escapes for the gay community. An example of this ideal is the advertisement for Melrose Baths in Los Angeles, depicting several different types of white men. These men range in age and body types, with the welcoming caption “If You’re Breathing and Your Body’s Warm…You’re Our Kind of People!”1. Damron’s work is for the gay community to avoid the surveillance that criminalized their actions and humanity. The creation of listings that described each location became a language for the readers to guide them to locations suitable for their pleasures. The explanation of listings at the beginning of the books such as, “*,” meaning very popular, or (HOT), which was dangerous-usually fuzz depicts not only how the description of queer spaces but the creation of a language within these books.

Fig. 2 Number of locations marked as AYOR in the Damron Address Books between 1975 and 1980.

The listing of ‘AYOR’ meaning ‘At Your Own Risk’ is the one that infiltrates this work as a constant reminder of the danger that lurked in these queer spaces. This listing appears heavily in the later years (1975-1980) in California as cruisy areas begin appearing in the address books. Contrasting the ideal advertisements of these accepting queer spaces, the reality was a real threat of being caught in a queer space. The creation and use of this listing, AYOR, throughout Damron’s books illustrate how his work is an act of resistance.

To be in the public eye creates vulnerability to the surveillance of others and the pressure to follow the norms of society. The creation of The Damron Address Books is an example of resisting the dominant culture of power of criminalizing the gay community. The resistance is done by literally and figuratively creating a map to aid the gay community in their refusal to deny their sexual identities. The address books interrupt the normalization and myth-making of queer spaces being dirty or dangerous. Instead, ‘AYOR’ and some descriptions of locations including details on how to discreetly find an entrance, revealing the danger lies in the rebellion of being in these public spaces. During the years Damron was active, these address books create a means to be out in public for private desires. The advertisements include acceptance and normalization of gay men in intimate poses, a break in the hegemony of heterosexual norms and threats.

Working on Mapping the Gay Guides with Dr. Amanda Regan and Dr. Eric Gonzaba, was an insightful experience on how modern technology can preserve the past. Working through the years of 1965 to 1980 in Damron’s guidebooks, the growth and support of the queer community is evident. With the increase of the locations of each state, the additions of advertisements, amenities, and snide comments by Damron, the guide books are a wonderful piece of queer history that represents a network within the community. However, because of the restrictions on the guides, the opportunity to view is limited. Though Damron’s handbooks are a great historical work, the ability to learn from this work on an interactive website is breaking several barriers the guides could not do. The ability to visually explore years of data with ease allows a larger audience to this past, as well as accessibility by being online.

While working on this project, I found myself once again, criticizing how history is preserved and presented in the modern-day. Working on Damron’s guides in the years of 1965 to 1980, some features of the guides reveal that these guides are not for the universal queer audience. Rather with the amenities of (B) for Blacks, (L), or (G) for ladies and girls, the reader is assumed to be white and male. Though these amenities are markers of “others” to the readers, their inclusion provides an opportunity to create a more in-depth reflection on the community. Going through many listings throughout the guides, the ability to imagine how many locations contained a (B) feature is troublesome. However, with just a click of a button on Mapping the Gay Guides, the ability to view all locations with this feature is possible. The visual of the map, as well as the timeline, create a more compelling presentation of history that is accessible to anyone with internet access.

In my experience, my first time seeing the website on launch day was amazing, as I had for the past few weeks worked through California in the 1979 guide. I had talked about the project with my mother, and it was a one-sided conversation. However, a few weeks later, I showed her the website, and we explored California together, both of us lifetime residents. With the amenities filters, and the ability to change the range of locations on the map, my mother now understood my excitement on the project. Talking further about the project, we continued to explore the map in areas we knew. Questions were asked about bookstores, amenity features, and cruisy areas, all while exploring the map. As fun as that day was, I remember my mother asking how she could have no idea about the existence of these guides or some of these locations. Again, the idea of these guides serving a selective audience became a discussion, but this question moved us from the project to what is considered history. Fourteen years of guides of locations and networking for the safety and entertainment of the queer community is unheard to the public because this history does not fit the master narrative. However, Mapping the Gay Guides opens years of information of a marginalized history to the public, which allows discussions of historic preservation in modern-day. Having my own experience, I know this website will be an amazing tool for all users to explore and question the preservation of history.


Sierra Rivera is a MA student in the Department of American Studies at California State University, Fullerton.


  1. Advertisement for Melrose Baths, Bob Damron’s Address Book, 1979, 39. ↩︎