Shunned or unwelcome elsewhere in less tolerant times, queer people could gather in bars, which for generations served as the community’s public squares and remain hubs for organizing and fundraising. After The Score closed in the early 2000s, LGBTQ patrons urged Garcia to dedicate her space to the community she had so openly accepted. And the prevalence of AIDS among Latinos nationwide skyrocketed by 130% between 19.Īt Jalisco, some patrons unaccustomed to seeing same-sex couples turned aggressive toward the new customers. Then-President Clinton unveiled the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prevented service members from being openly gay, lesbian or bisexual without the threat of being discharged. California voters had approved Proposition 187, which sought to deny undocumented immigrants access to services, including public healthcare and education. Los Angeles in the 1990s was racially and politically tense. By then she had married Sergio Hernandez, who left his job as another bar’s security guard to help Garcia at Jalisco. When he died in 2005, Jalisco became hers officially.
As the owner got older, he left Garcia to manage the bar by herself.
