Seventh Circle
Address
704 N Van Ness Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Active Dates
1971 - 1973
Seventh Circle advertisement, The Lesbian Tide, February 1973, Houston LGBT History, https://houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Assorted%20Pubs/Lesbian%20Tide/lesbian%20tide-7302.compressed.pdf.
Oral History Clips
About this location
The Seventh Circle was a lesbian bar in Hollywood, owned by Carmen Thielemann and Kathy. It appears in The Lesbian Tide's calendar and bar guide from September 1971 through April 1973. Its ads in the Tide promised dancing, beer and a pool tournament every Wednesday. Carmen and Kathy were the first bar owners in Los Angeles to advertise in a lesbian feminist publication, and in 1972 the bar sponsored more than a dozen benefits for the feminist and lesbian community, including a July 1972 fundraiser for Sisters Liberated House and a benefit for the Los Angeles Feminist Women's Health Clinic listed in the December 1972 issue. Linda Spheeris recalled playing on the bar's softball team at Poinsettia Park. By September 1973 the bar had closed, and that month the Tide announced it would soon reopen at 704 N. Van Ness under its 1972 manager, Jo Tadlock. There is no sign that it did. In November 1973 the Tide called it “the now closed 7th Circle,” and Carmen Thielemann and Tere Sanchez were running Butterfly West at 5617 Melrose Avenue.
Categories
Sources
- "7th Circle Reopening Notice." The Lesbian Tide 3, no. 2 (September 1973): 8. https://houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Assorted%20Pubs/Lesbian%20Tide/lesbian%20tide-7309.compressed.pdf.
- "Bar Guide." The Lesbian Tide 2, no. 9 (April 1973). https://houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Assorted%20Pubs/Lesbian%20Tide/New/LesbianTide-2-9.pdf.
- "Calendar." The Lesbian Tide 1, no. 2 (September 1971): 17. https://houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Assorted%20Pubs/Lesbian%20Tide/New/LesbianTide-1-2.pdf.
- "Calendar." The Lesbian Tide 2, no. 5 (December 1972). https://houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Assorted%20Pubs/Lesbian%20Tide/lesbian%20tide-7212.compressed.pdf.
- Córdova, Jeanne. "The Lesbian Bar: Butterfly West Takes Feminist Lead." The Lesbian Tide 3, no. 4 (November 1973): 12. https://houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Assorted%20Pubs/Lesbian%20Tide/lesbian%20tide-7311.compressed.pdf.
- "Seventh Circle Advertisement." The Lesbian Tide 2, no. 5 (December 1972): 17. https://houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Assorted%20Pubs/Lesbian%20Tide/lesbian%20tide-7212.compressed.pdf.
- "Seventh Circle Advertisement." The Lesbian Tide 2, no. 7 (February 1973). https://houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Assorted%20Pubs/Lesbian%20Tide/lesbian%20tide-7302.compressed.pdf.
- "Sisters Liberated House Fundraiser Notice." The Lesbian Tide 1, no. 12 (July 1972). https://houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Assorted%20Pubs/Lesbian%20Tide/New/LesbianTide-1-12-7207.pdf.
- Spheeris, Linda. Interview by Kymn Goldstein. August 25, 2026. June L Mazer Lesbian Archives.