Gay life in Chicago this week, back in...

1981

Events in the bars and clubs this week: His n' Hers, 944 W. Addison, has a lunchtime special of 1/4lb. burger, fries, tomato, onion and pickle, 1 soft drink, only $1.99 plus tax; Danniel, Ginger and Kay, welcome you to the Wednesday Barbeque at the Frog Pond, 2917 N. Sheffield Ave.; there's an Easter Sunday Bonnets and Jocks Contest at BJ's, 3231 N. Clark St.; a Sleezy Full Moon & Easter Egg Hunt at Touché, 2815 N. Lincoln Ave.; Eddie Dugan proudly presents the David & Dazzle ventriloquist act at Dugan's Bistro, 420 N. Dearborn; and Broadway Limited, 3132 N. Broadway, holds A Spring Affair starring Jamie Rae, Celeste, Lenore Allen, Brenda Starr and their very special friend Jan Howard.

(Image: Gay Chicago cover April 10, 1986)

Busloads of Chicago gays travel to Springfield to attend the Illinois House of Representatives hearings on gay rights legislation. The committee votes to send all five bills to the full house for consideration.

(Image: International Mr. Leather – Gay Chicago April 3, 1986)

Former Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich is the guest speaker at the 16th annual Mattachine Midwest recognition banquet at the Chicago Radisson Hotel. The event celebrates the memory of the late lesbian Pearl M. Hart, a Chicago attorney, and is held to honor individuals who, by their efforts to foster social and economic change though understanding, have reaffirmed the objective of gay activism. Those honored this year are Ald. Clifford Kelley and the Howard Brown Memorial Clinic.

That Woman Must Be On Drugs, Nicolle Hollander's latest collection of cartoons, is presented by the author in a slide show at Women and Children First, 922 W. Armitage.

1993

This season's Top Five Science Fiction/Fantasy books at People Like Us Bookstore, 3321 N. Clark St. are: 1) War Against the Chtorr #2 – David Gerrola (Bantam) $4.95; 2) Return to Isis ­– Jean Stewart (Rising Tide Press) $8.95; 3) Death's Head – Mel Keegan (Gay Men's Press) $10.95; 4) War Against the Chtorr #1 – David Gerrold (Bantam) $4.95; 5) The Deed of Paksenarrion – Elizabethan Moon (Baen) $12.00.

(Image: Erasure – Gay Chicago April 17, 1997)

Groups meeting and events on Sunday April 25 include the Great Lakes Freedom Band of Chicago open rehearsal at the Rodde Center, 4753 N. Broadway; Alanon, for family/friends of alcoholics, 656 W. Barry; Holy Covenant/MCC hold services at 17 W. Maple, Hinsdale; MCC/Christ the Redeemer hold services at 933 Chicago Ave. Evanston; and Columbia College presents "Out Art," an exhibit of gay/lesbian/bisexual art, at Hokin Student Center, 623 S. Wabash.

Community Response, the Oak Park based social service agency serving persons with AIDS and HIV infection, release the study it commissioned entitled: HIV/AIDS Needs Assessment for West Suburban Cook County, Illinois; Implications for Public Policy and Service Delivery.

2000

Chicago Gay Men's Chorus presents H.M.S. Pinafore at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport.

Listen! featuring Honey West and Alexandra Billings is on lesbigay radio AM 1240. AM 1470.

In his Gay Chicago review of Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, Michael Hemmes writes:

"And Vincent Minnelli, a former window dresser for Marshall Field's and Judy's second husband, paraded around pre-World War II Hollywood in drag and outrageous make-up. Just a couple of years after their marriage, Judy returned home early from the studio and found Minnelli in bed with another man. The shock sent her running into the bathroom, where she cut her wrists in her first (of many) suicide attempts."

Queerstock Tour 2000 comes to Star Gaze, 5419 N. Clark St., with Angela Motter, Scott Free, Ripley Caine, Robert Urban Band, and other special guests.

The Association of Latin Men for Action (ALMA) monthly brunch is at El Jardin, 3335 N. Clark St.

On the Sundance Cable Channel, Chicago lesbian filmmaker Yvonne Welbon's documentary about 100 year-old lesbian Ruth Ellis, Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis at 100 is shown.

Gay Men's Spirituality Group discuss "Coming Out As a Lifelong Process" at 1218 W. Addison.

Thanks go to publishers Michael Bergeron for Chicago Gay Crusader, Ralph Gernhardt for Gay Chicago, Grant Ford and Chuck Renslow for Gay Life and Tracy Baim for all the publications at the Windy City Media Group, which aided the above research. St. Sukie de la Croix is an internationally published reporter, playwright, photographer and historian. He is also the author of the upcoming book Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall published by the University of Wisconsin Press.

Homework:

Does anyone have any memories of His n' Hers at 944 W. Addison?

What happened to the Great Lakes Freedom Band of Chicago?

Where is Ripley Caine?

(Leave your comments below)