Progress Pride Flag brightens up 2 lifeguard towers at Ginger Rogers Beach

A couple of lifeguard towers in Santa Monica just got a little more colorful. Towers 17 and 18 at Ginger Rogers Beach are painted with the colors of the Progress Pride Flag.

L.A. County and community leaders gathered at the freshly painted towers Saturday, celebrating the artwork and honoring the history of Ginger Rogers Beach as part of Pride month.

Ginger Rogers Beach has historically been a coastal haven for the LGBTQ+ community.

According to the office of Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, the stretch of beach became a popular destination for gay men as far back as the 1940s. It was soon dubbed Ginger Rogers Beach in honor of the film legend.

The location evolved into a focal point of political activism, according to Horvath's office, ranging from fundraisers for AIDS victims to petition drives opposing the Vietnam War.

"For too long Ginger Rogers Beach has lived in the shadows, without having its full story and name known by Los Angeles outside of the LGBTQ+ community," Horvath's office said.

On Twitter, Horvath said the beach in a "post-war era" provided a refuge from discrimination that many LGBTQ+ people faced elsewhere. Organizers gathered signatures against McCarthyism there, eventually leading to the creation of the Mattachine Society, one of the first ever gay rights organizations.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the beach became a hot spot for social and fundraising events to help those suffering from the AIDS crisis.

San Diego's Gay and Lesbian Times described the beach as the "West Coast's answer to the Statue of Liberty" in 1995.

Rogers, an Academy Award-winning actress, appeared in more than 70 films during Hollywood's "Golden Age" -- including 10 classic musicals.