Vanessa Craig

Event organizer Vanessa Craig describes lesbian and queer nightlife in Los Angeles from the late 1990s through the 2010s. Craig came out in 1998, as she was graduating from UCLA, and describes The Palms as one of the first lesbian spaces she encountered. She found a community of butch and femme women that expanded her ideas of lesbian identity. Stephanie Inouye mentored her in party promotion, and her first event, she believes, was a night at The Palms around 2001 that Inouye helped her put on. She later co-produced an annual Pride party downtown.

Over the years Craig began planning parties on the East side of Los Angeles, where she found more diverse, artistic, and kinky LGBTQ communities. She discusses Shotgun in Silverlake, a queer party that brought together a diverse crowd of artists, DJs, dancers, and drag kings. She also remembers The Garage, a “rocker club” that later became The Virgil, where she produced the 1990s-themed Grind from about 2012 to 2014. In 2016 Craig and Pony Lee started the sapphic, trans-inclusive, and kinky party Cruise LA at The Eagle. Later at the El Cid, she created a lesbian trivia night with a more communal atmosphere than the parties. Craig also discusses her later work at the Pleasure Chest, where she managed social media and eventually became a creative director.