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

1986

Events in the bars and clubs this week include: Progressive music and dance club, Delores and Eddies, 3700, N. Broadway, has live entertainment on Saturdays; "Art, Ruth & Trudy with the Practical Theatre Co., is playing at Club Victoria, 3153 N. Broadway; Lynn Roeder is performing at Gentry of Chicago, 712 N. Rush St.; join Medusa and Nunzio in the Orbit Room for the Sunday Ice Tea Dance; Zo-Ran, 3474 N. Clark St., presents La Faye Elliot in the piano
Bar; Boobs Draw Too, 5834 W. Grand Ave., "a neighborhood lesbian bar with neighborhood prices" has a Boob's Coming Out Party; every Thursday night there's a Beach Party at TJ's, 46 E. Oak St.; a Mr. North End contest takes place at North End, 3733 N. Halsted, with a special performance by Tilly, the Dirty Old Lady; Peter Townsend is the guest bartender at Club Normandy, 3401 N. Sheffield.

(Image: Mr. 1979 Blinkers Contest – Gay Chicago June 7, 1979)

Joann Loulan, author of "Lesbian Sex" speaks at the Wellington Avenue Church, 615 W. Wellington on "Women and Sexuality."

Chicago Mayor Harold Washington proclaims June 6, 1986 Gay and Lesbian Parents Day. The announcement coincides with the Seventh Annual International Conference of Gay and Lesbian Parenting Issues held at the One Mid-City Plaza in Chicago. The conference, entitled "New Horizons: Together We Can Do Anything!" is co-sponsored by the Gay Fathers Coalition International and the Gay and Lesbian Parents Group/Chicago.

The Chicago Area Republican Gay Organization (CARGO) holds their annual meeting at the Rodde Center, meeting Room B, 3225 N. Sheffield.

An artificial insemination workshop is held at the Chicago Women's Health Center, 3435 N. Sheffield.

A special preview evening sponsored by DIFFA (the Design and Interior Furnishing Foundation for AIDS) to benefit persons with AIDS opens the exhibition of paintings by Dr. Gerald Zatuchni at the Gruen Gallery, 226 W. Superior Street.

"Improper Conduct," a documentary focusing on the problems of gays in Castro's Cuba, is shown at the 2nd Hispanic Film Festival, 1333 W. Argyle, St. Augustine College.

1992

Jeff Morris, Byrd Bardot, Tom Hemingway, Robbie Little, and Sharyl Holtzman invite you to the opening of Thrust, a Sunday Spectacle deep inside the Riviera Theatre, 4746 N. Racine.

(Image: AA Meat Market – Gay Chicago May 13, 1990)

Encore, the eight member, all-volunteer ensemble from the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus (CGMC) present "Encore and Friends," an evening of song and dance to benefit the CGMC's GALA Fund, at 1757 W. Wilson.

(Image: AA Meat Market – Gay Chicago May 13, 1990)

Current theatrical productions include "Six Degrees of Separation" starring Marlo Thomas, Ned Schmidtke and Bryan Hicks, as the young man who claims to be Paul Poitier. It's at the Briar Street Theatre, 3133 N. Halsted; The premiere of "The Chancellor's Tale" by Minneapolis playwright Paul Mohrbacher, a behind closed doors look at the Roman Catholic Church fighting against gay rights. It's at the Greenview Arts Center, 6418 N. Greenview; "M. Butterfly" by David Henry Hwang, directed by Jeffrey Ortmann, is at the Wisdom Bridge Theatre, 1559 W. Howard Street.

The Lake Michigan Region of Lambda Car Club hosts the annual Grand International Invitational in Chicago. Among the activities are a members' car show at Ohio Street Beach, where more than 50 classic cars including vintage Thunderbirds, Nashs, Cadillacs and Imperials are on display.

Gay, lesbian, and bisexual students of the School of the Art Institute present "Queery," two nights of film, video and performances at Gallery 2, 1040 W. Huron St.

1997

Pussy Tourette performs at Glee Club, 1543 N. Kingsbury.

The Pride calendar for this week in 1997 reads:

Saturday, May 31, 1997

8:00 p.m. PROM "Over the Rainbow: The Prom You Never Had," sponsored by GLSTN; $35/advance, $45/door; Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington

Sunday, June 1, 1997

7:30 p.m. Bailiwick Summer Pride Series from now thru mid August at 1229 W. Belmont.

7:30 p.m. Reading/Book Signing by author Marc Adams, "The Preacher's Son" at People Like Us Bookstore, 1115 W. Belmont.

7:00-9:00 p.m. Pride General Meeting by Generation Q (each Sun. thru June) 909 W. Belmont.

Tuesday June 3, 1997

7:15 p.m. Reading/Booksigning by author Layne Redmond, "When the Drummers Were Women; A Spiritual History of Women," at Women and Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark St.

Wednesday, June 4, 1997

7:15 p.m. Women's Health Forum by Oak Park Area L&G Association; 1st United Church, 848 Lake St., Oak Park.

7:30 p.m. Book Discussion/Workshop "The Hidden Writer: Diaries & the Creative Life" led by Alexandra Johnson analyzing the diaries of seven women including Virginia Woolf and Mary Sarton; Women and Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark St.

Thursday, June 5, 1997

7:00 p.m. Lawrence R. Frey, Loyola University Chicago professor, and Mara B. Adelman, discusses and signs their book "The Fragile Community: Living Together With AIDS" at People Like Us Bookstore.

9:00 p.m. Open mic. Featured artists Sandford Gaylord & Innervision w/WordRising & Blacklines; hosted by Les Femmes Amies/Paris Bar & Café, 1122 W. Montrose; free parking; cash bar; $5 cover; sign-in 8:30 p.m.

Friday, June 6, 1997

7:00 p.m. Pride Month Potluck Dinner by the Oak Park Area L&G/Association; bring a dish to share.

7:30 p.m. Pride Month Worship & Social Hour by Integrity/Chicago; St. Mark's Church, 1509 Ridge, Evanston.

10:00 p.m. "Second City – Out of the Closet" benefit featuring the hit show "Whitney Houston, We Have a Problem"; Second City, 1608 N. Wells; 3rd annual fundraiser benefits Seasons of Concern.

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 book Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall published by the University of Wisconsin Press.