Remembering Jewel Thais-Williams: Activist, Healer, Visionary
Jewel Thais-Williams, a guiding force in nightlife, activism, and community health, passed away this week at the age of 86.
Los Angeles has lost one of its most powerful voices and most loving hearts. Jewel Thais-Williams, a pioneer in Black LGBTQ+ activism, passed away on July 7 at the age of 86. She is survived by her wife, Rue, and by the generations of queer people whose lives she changed.
For more than four decades, Thais-Williams offered more than nightlife. She created sanctuary. Her legendary club, Jewel’s Catch One, which opened in 1973, was the first Black queer nightclub in Los Angeles and one of the first Black discos in the United States. In the heart of the Arlington Heights neighborhood, Catch One grew into something much deeper than a dance floor. It became, as many have said, home.
“I was 30 years old when I first walked into Jewel’s Catch One and found my life,” wrote activist Keith Boykin on Instagram, remembering his first visit in 1995. Boykin went on to say that while the club was frequented by the likes of Sylvester, Madonna, and Janet Jackson, “I never went to see a celebrity. I was there because Jewel created a safe space for the Black LGBTQ community at a time when AIDS, homophobia, and many of our own churches made us feel unwelcome.”
Related: 9 Documentaries Exploring the Lives and History of Queer Women
Thais-Williams was born in Gary, Indiana, in 1939. Her family eventually settled in San Diego after several relatives were drafted into the Navy. She later moved to Los Angeles and attended UCLA, where she began to understand how limited the options were for Black women. Instead of waiting for a seat at someone else’s table, she built her own. She opened a dress shop with her sister, then, in 1973, took a leap and bought the Diana Club, a struggling bar where Black queer patrons weren’t welcome. She renamed it Catch One and made history, becoming the first Black woman in the country to own a LGBTQ nightclub.
At a time when women weren’t even allowed to tend bar unless they owned the establishment, Thais-Williams turned ownership into empowerment. She used her position not only to host parties, but to organize the community. During the AIDS crisis, Catch One doubled as a meeting space for activists and health workers. She co-founded the Minority AIDS Project, served on the board of AIDS Project Los Angeles, and with her wife, opened Rue’s House to provide shelter for women and children living with HIV or AIDS.
After earning her Master of Science in Oriental Medicine, Thais-Williams opened a healing practice on the same property as Rue’s House that would become the Village Health Foundation. The center provided holistic treatments and wellness education in underserved neighborhoods, yet another extension of her belief that everyone deserves to feel well and whole.
Even after she closed Catch One in 2015, she stayed active in the community. She was named Grand Marshal of the 2016 LA Pride Parade, and in 2019, the city dedicated the intersection in front of the club as Jewel Thais-Williams Square. Documentaries like Jewel’s Catch One and Jewel and the Catch preserved her story for new generations. And she kept showing up for people, always.
Related: The Rise Of The Black Lesbian Archives
“She welcomed everyone under her roof and transformed our city,” the venue’s current team wrote on Instagram. “Today we honor her spirit and aim to carry forward her message of love, resilience, and unity.”
In a statement, California Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur remembered her as “an icon, a trailblazer, and a matriarch of Los Angeles’ Black LGBTQ+ community.” He added, “Through Jewel’s Catch One, she created a haven of joy and resistance, and through her advocacy, she brought healing to communities devastated by HIV/AIDS.”
Jewel Thais-Williams lived with a sense of purpose that never wavered. When asked by the LGBTQ History Project what advice she would give to struggling queer people, she said, “I would probably start with learning to love yourselves. Look in the mirror every day, and say I love you just as you are. There’s a universal plan for everybody’s presence here on this planet.”
