By Valerie Milano
Phoenix, AZ (The Hollywood Times) 7/8/25 – Jewel Thais‑Williams (May 9, 1939 – July 7, 2025), a pioneering activist, entrepreneur, healer, and an indomitable presence in Los Angeles’ queer Black community, passed away on July 7, 2025, at the age of 86.
Born in Gary, Indiana, Jewel was the fifth of seven children. Her family moved to San Diego during WWII, before she later relocated to Los Angeles and attended UCLA. Early jobs ranging from grocery clerk to prison guard couldn’t contain her spirit. In 1973, driven by both necessity during a recession and the dream of an inclusive space, she purchased Diana’s Club on West Pico Blvd and transformed it into Jewel’s Catch One. As the first Black woman–owned LGBT nightclub in the U.S., it became a vibrant haven for people marginalized by race, gender, and sexuality, drawing as many as 1,300 patrons a night, including celebrities like Madonna and Janet Jackson.
As the AIDS crisis emerged in the 1980s, Jewel’s activism grew. In 1987 she co‑founded the Minority AIDS Project with Carl Bean, and later co-founded Rue’s House, the first housing facility in the U.S. for women with AIDS and their children. Her advocacy extended to serving on the board of AIDS Project LA and founding the Village Health Foundation next to Catch One in 2001, offering non‑toxic preventative healthcare free to those in need.
Remarkably, while still running the nightclub, Jewel returned to academia in her late 50s and earned a Master’s in Oriental Medicine in 1998. She dedicated the rest of her career to holistic health, closing Catch One in 2015 and focusing wholly on her clinic.
Her trailblazing spirit earned flowers from across Los Angeles: in 2012, she received the Dream of Los Angeles Award, was named the 2016 Grand Marshal of LA Pride, and—most recently—the intersection of Pico Blvd and Norton Ave was officially renamed Jewel Thais‑Williams Square.
Jewel is survived by her wife and longtime partner Rue Thais‑Williams, spiritual family, and a legacy of safe spaces and care that transformed lives. Her story—one of resilience, inclusion, and empowerment—was immortalized in the documentary Jewel’s Catch One, ensuring her fiery generosity will continue to inspire future generations.
May her memory live on in every safe space created, every barrier broken, and every life she touched.
