LA City Council Expected to Save Morris Kight Home

Councilmembers vote Tuesday on designating 4th Street residence of grandfather of LGBTQ+ movement an Historic Cultural Monument (HCM)

Currently, fewer than one percent of city’s HCM sites honor LGBTQ+ community

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A wide-ranging group of advocates will be out in force at Los Angeles City Hall tomorrow (Tuesday, August 8) to testify and urge City Councilmembers to approve Historic Cultural Monument (HCM) status for the residence of Morris Kight, a respected 20^th century Los Angeles LGBTQ+ rights pioneer. The home on 4^th Street in the Westlake neighborhood is in Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez’s district (District #1) and is listed on the California Register of Historical Resources.

Based on assurances from the Councilmember’s office, Hernandez is expected to make a motion Tuesday urging the full council to adopt Historic Cultural Monument status for the Kight home. She previously promoted the lesser ‘site of’ designation, which meant a property owner could raze the property and redevelop the site, something advocates understood the current site owner intended to do.

A favorable HCM designation vote Tuesday provides Councilmembers a chance to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community as well as honor and support Los Angeles LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS history.

AHF and Housing is a Human Right (HHR), a division of AHF, strongly support the City Council approving historic designation for the Kight home. The Stonewall Democratic Club, the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the Los Angeles Conservancy are also backing HCM status for the property.

On Sunday, August 6^th, AHF ran a full-page ad urging City Council to “Save Morris Kight’s Home.”

Following testimony before the Council and the Council’s subsequent vote, advocates will join members of Local SEIU 721 in solidarity outside City Hall at the union’s one-day strike also set for Tuesday.