2025 ENDANGERED LATINX LANDMARKS
Year Built:
Los Angeles, California
Silver Platter Bar
1922
The Silver Platter, established as a gay bar by 1963 in Los Angeles' Westlake neighborhood, is the oldest extant Latinx LGBTQ+ nightlife space in the city and a rare Borderlands space where immigrant, queer, and trans Latinx communities have built belonging, cultural expression, and resistance. It has been a site of activism, mutual aid, and survival through decades of homophobia, transphobia, and white-dominated gay spaces. Today, redevelopment, discriminatory preservation criteria, and gentrification threaten its location, while rising rents and immigration enforcement endanger its community.
"The Silver Platter has served as a gathering spot for immigrant men from Mexico and Central America and later as a vital hub for transgender Latinas. Today it remains a cherished space for LGBTQIA+ Latinas, immigrants, and a diverse mix of patrons—yet it now faces heartbreaking news from its landlord."
— Andrew Salimian, Director of Advocacy, Los Angeles Conservancy
The Abuelas
Project
The Abuelas Project collects, curates, and amplifies stories of important Latinx movements, sites, and people across the country.
This GIS project encourages intergenerational storytelling through Storymaps that focus on Braceros, abandoned Mexican cemeteries, Route 66, and more.
Latinx Preservation Toolkit
The Toolkit is a bilingual booklet that empowers Latinx communities by demystifying historic preservation. The Texas Toolkit highlights four Latinx heritage success stories across the state, defines preservation terms, and provides guidance on how students, community members, and youth can preserve their communities.
Our next Toolkit will feature diverse stories across the borderlands.
Nuestra Herencia
Grant Program
We launched Nuestra Herencia Grant Program in 2024, providing $600,000 annually for Latinx heritage and historic preservation projects. This funding initiative focuses on empowering grassroots, Latinx-centered nonprofits.
It is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, in partnership with the Social Impact Fund, which has contributed $1.8 million over three years.