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OC’s first Pride-themed lifeguard tower gets July 4 celebration in Laguna Beach

July 4, 2023

Orange County’s first rainbow-colored Pride lifeguard tower now stands at West Street Beach, an area of Laguna Beach’s shoreline known for its history as a haven for the LGBTQ community.

The picturesque stretch with towering cliffs, interesting rock formations and pristine tidepools wedged between Aliso Beach and Thousand Steps Beach was known as a “party all the time” among the gay community. Areas were regularly roped off for dancing and volleyball competitions, and a low-power radio station KWER FM 104.7 (Queer FM) kept everyone in the party spirit.

A new Pride Tower sits at West Street Beach in Laguna Beach, CA, on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. The city placed the tower as a way to show the town’s embrace of diversity and to give the nod to the rich gay history at West Street Beach. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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On the Fourth of July any given year, the celebration hit an even bigger note, with hundreds of people gathering on the beach for fun in the sun and activities that lasted long into the evening, ending with a great view of the city’s fireworks show shot off from Heisler Park.

So, it’s fitting that on this Fourth of July, the new tower will be christened with a fun day of activities hosted by Laguna Beach Pride 365, including a 1 p.m. ribbon cutting. Hundreds are expected to attend.

A plaque celebrating the beach’s history and proclaiming it a safe place for all to gather is still being crafted and will be installed in August during the community’s Pride Festival.

“It’s a fairly simple message that we accept diversity,” Craig Cooley, president of Laguna Beach Pride 365, said about the tower’s installation. “What’s impacted me the most, and brought me to tears, is the number of positive responses we’ve gotten on social media since it went up on June 26.”

While there’s “been so much pushback nationally and in the state legislature” and following the Supreme Court ruling last week that a website designer could refuse to design websites for same-sex weddings, the new tower “has sparked a lot of support,” Cooley said. “The response was overwhelming.”

The timing of the Pride tower’s debut with the Fourth of July is “very significant” because of the importance of the American Constitution in protecting the rights of the LBGTQ community.

“The Constitution and those who believe in its proper interpretation are what gives us our freedom and what the LGBTQ community has benefited from to protect our individual rights,” Cooley said. “It’s about the Constitution, independence and human rights. What better time to have the tower out there?”

Cooley proposed the tower to the Laguna Beach City Council earlier this year when it took over operation of several southern beaches in town that had previously remained the county’s responsibility. Then the project got a huge boost from a $10,000 donation from locals Steve Chadima and Mark Porterfield, who met in Laguna Beach nearly 40 years ago.

So when the city planned six new towers on the South Laguna beaches, the Pride tower was included at West Street Beach.

“It’s something we’re pleased to have and respect the history of the gay community in Laguna Beach,” Mayor Bob Whalen said. “It’s something the gay community asked us to support.”

Some residents who live in the area worried the rainbow tower might be a target for vandalism – Long Beach’s Pride tower was set on fire in 2021 – expressing concern to the council at recent meetings.

The council opted to move the tower’s location 200 feet to the south to provide some more distance from nearby vegetation, but Whalen said he doesn’t feel the new tower “presents a major threat.”

“The Fire Department is very confident, should anything happen, we’ll have the ability to access the place,” he said. “We thoroughly looked at fire risk and addressed that.”

Some residents suggested moving the tower to Main Beach, but the council agreed that given West Street Beach’s history, the best place to represent the Pride message would be at that beach.

“I think we’re all pleased it’s there,” Whalen said.

Chris Tebbutt, who chose Laguna Beach as the town he and his husband wanted to raise their boys when they moved back to California from the East Coast, said he has found memories at West Street Beach.

Tebbutt co-founded with Cooley the Laguna Beach LGBTQ Heritage and Culture Alliance, which is dedicated to making sure the local LGBTQ community is seen and embraced. The Pride tower, he said, should help that effort and give a nod to the past.

“It’s a great addition, not only for representation, but it’s about being fun,” he said. “It feels friendly and welcoming.”

Bob Celli, who was the co-owner, DJ, programmer and promoter of Queer FM, which started 40 years ago this year, applauded the tower.

“To see the beach get its own lifeguard tower shows just how far acceptance of the gay community has come, in spite of new efforts to force us back into hiding,” he said. “I was 16 years old when I started that radio station with my best friend and eventual husband. Now, at the age of 56, I look back at the fun – and challenges – we had on West Street Beach and I’m so happy to know that people are still enjoying that gorgeous cove to this day.”

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OC’s first Pride-themed lifeguard tower gets July 4 celebration in Laguna Beach

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