Jane Cantillon’s documentary The Other Side: A Queer History takes us to a unique Los Angeles place, The Other Side, the last remaining gay piano bar in the city. I first heard about the bar from a spiffy fellow who lived in my condo building years ago. Every Saturday night, he’d be dressed to the nines, with a pocket square that coordinated with his tie, a crisp white shirt under his blue blazer, tasseled oxblood loafers peeking out from his khakis. So one night in the elevator I asked where he was going, and he replied

Oh this piano bar in Silver Lake. But don’t worry about me driving dear, I only have one drink the whole night. It’s a very gay place, lots of us old queens doing show tunes. It’s my little spot to unwind.

The Other Side is that little spot, a place where gentlemen of certain age congregate and relax. These men hold in their memories both the joys and fears of being gay in Los Angeles in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Their experiences with entrapment, beatings, arrests stand in stark contrast with elation they felt when they first found like minded souls in Los Angeles bars with the names of birds, a code of sorts that the bar was gay friendly.

Love stories, coming out stories, tales of having to “grab a dyke” in the segregated male/female gay dance clubs when the signal would flash that the cops were coming. Casual sex, random sex, long term relationships, HIV are all part of frankly told stories of these men. Some found happiness, some had their lives ruined by entrapment, some dodged the bullet of HIV. Their stories show the rich tapestry of gay life in Los Angeles, fraught with fear and intrigue, style, sex, bravery and love.

The bar isn’t a cruising bar, it’s place for friends to gather, to catch up with each other, to stay connected. And like the men in The Other Side, the bar is one of the last vestiges of a very different time. It’s important that places like The Other Side stay open and that the stories of the patrons be heard so we can see how far we’ve come–and how far we still have to go.