Happy Halloweek, today, let’s look back at how WeHo Lounge saved lives and prevented stigma when it opened in 1997 as a place for friends and communities to gather, get tested, and relax in a safe and HIV stigma-free environment, as well as party in an STI-conscious social circle.
HIV/STI testing and education was the heart of WeHo Lounge’s purpose and to encourage engagement the lounge provided additional benefits such as an operating café, internet-access point, and hosted trendy events.
Located in the iconic historically LGBT+ West Hollywood neighborhood, part of WeHo Lounge’s success is owed to its casual atmosphere and gatherings ranging from Cocktail Hours where patrons and healthcare experts could discuss comfortably to social and even dating festivities like Halloween parties.
AHF is no stranger to Halloween and has hosted holiday gatherings as far back as its early days as a hospice to bring patients a sense of normality and joy. The WeHo Lounge parties reached people across neighborhoods, sexualities, HIV statuses, and ages with performances and wild costumes. Halloween at the lounge was fun, flirtatious, and fit in with people’s safer sex goals.
The lounge was eventually transformed into an Out of the Closet, which continued its legacy of providing critical access with levity to testing services, safer sex education, and costumes!
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