LOS ANGELES — A celebration of life was held July 27 for Jewel Thais-Williams, the LGBTQ activist and original owner of L.A.’s landmark Jewel’s Catch One nightclub who died on July 7 at age 86.
The event was held at the club, now known as Catch One, at 4067 W. Pico Blvd., two blocks east of Crenshaw Boulevard.
Thais-Williams opened the club in 1973 and owned it until 2015. Under her ownership, Catch One featured performances by the likes of Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Chaka Khan, Sylvester, Weather Girls, Luther Vandross, Donna Summer, Whoopi Goldberg and Rick James.
Catch One was a community center for Los Angeles’ Black, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. It became known as the “unofficial Studio 54 of the West Coast” and Thais-Williams was a national role model for fighting discrimination and serving the less fortunate.
Thais-Williams also co-founded the Minority AIDS Project, which aims to help blacks and Hispanics affected by the disease. She served as a board member of the AIDS Project Los Angeles, which provides HIV/AIDS care and prevention programs and seeks to improve HIV-related public policy, and with her wife Rue, co-founded Rue’s House, described as the first housing facility for women with AIDS. It later became a sober-living facility.
In 2001, Thais-Williams founded the Village Health Foundation to provide preventive health care and education to the black community for AIDS, diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure and other high-incidence diseases among Blacks in an effort to reduce the risk of disease and offer tools for learning to live with an illness.
In 2019, the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Norton Avenue was dedicated as Jewel Thais-Williams Square.
“Everybody deserves to be able to enjoy a night out where they can feel safe and welcomed, but before Jewel Thais-Williams, that was not the reality for Los Angeles’ Black LGBT community,” said then-Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson, who authored the motion designating the intersection.
Mayor Karen Bass attended the celebration.
In a statement issued after her death, Bass described Thais-Williams as a “matriarch to the community and a Black LGBT trailblazer in our city.”
“Ms. Thais-Williams led with warmth and compassion in a time when acceptance was not always a popular act,” Bass said. “But Ms.Thais-Williams met hate with hospitality, disdain with dance, and suspicion with celebration — a radical act of love found in Jewel’s Catch One Disco on Pico every night and in her work on behalf of so many.
“Catch One has always been more than just a club — it’s a home and a historic center in the community — one that hosted Reverend Jesse Jackson during his historic presidential run,” the mayor continued. “Ms. Thais-Williams also co-founded the Minority AIDS Project and fought against the stigma of a disease disproportionately impacting the African-American community in Los Angeles but also throughout the country. She will be missed here in Los Angeles but her legacy, undeniably, will live on forever.”
Bass wasn’t the only elected official who acknowledged Thais-Williams’ death.
County Supervisor Holly Mitchell asked that the county Board of Supervisors’ meeting July 9 be adjourned in memory of Thais-Williams.
Mitchell called Thais-Williams “a beloved activist, entrepreneur, and guiding light who embodied intersectional leadership, fighting for our Black and LGBT communities.”
“She co-founded many impactful organizations, including the Minority AIDS Project and Rue’s House,” Mitchell added. “She created a safe haven with the founding of the renowned Catch One nightclub — one of the few places where Black and queer creativity, talent and joy could be celebrated on the dance floor in the fight for liberation.
“In 2018, when I was serving in the State Senate, it was an honor to present Jewel with her well-deserved flowers as an unsung hero for her lasting contributions to Los Angeles,” Mitchell continued.
U.S. Rep, Maxine Waters also praised Thais-Mitchell.
“Jewel Thais-Williams was an extraordinary human being,” Waters said on X. “She was the most dedicated advocate for the LGBT community, and she created the fabulous nightclub, Jewel’s Catch One.
“Catch One became a welcoming spot for the LGBT community and for many Hollywood stars and entertainers,” Waters added. “It became a safe haven for those who were not wanted in many places in our community. Not only did she provide a very hip and well-attended nightclub, but she also worked and created funding and resources to deal with HIV/AIDS when our country was in denial.
“She was a dear friend, and I enjoyed all the times we worked together. She will definitely be remembered and missed,” Waters added.
