11/8/2008 LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles bar that was the site of watershed gay rights protests in the 1960s has been designated a city landmark.

The City Council voted to name the bar once called the Black Cat a cultural-historic monument Friday, the same day thousands of gay rights advocates protested the Proposition 8 ballot measure defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

Police raided the Silver Lake neighborhood bar that served a largely gay clientele at a celebration early on New Year’s Day of 1967 and arrested 14 patrons and bartenders. In months after the raid, hundreds protested for gay rights in front of the bar, now called Le Barcito.

Landmarking proponent Wes Joe says recognizing the bar reminds people how far gay rights have advanced, despite Proposition 8’s passage.

Courtesy of ABC.