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

1979

An item in this week's Gay Chicago reads: "A special note of congratulations is in order for Chuck Renslow of Renslow and Associates, who will receive the Paul Goldman Award at One of Chicago's 15th annual banquet Saturday May 19 at the Pick Congress Hotel. The featured speaker at the banquet will be Midge Constanza, former White House aide who was fired after she became a little too outspoken in her views. The cocktail party begins at 6:30 p.m."

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Ad in this week's Gay Chicago reads: "A private health club for men. Man's World. Enjoy our heated pool and full facilities at 4740 N. Western."

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Gay Personals in Gay Chicago:

Black male, 22, 6' 1", 160 lbs, attractive. I am a caring person and I want a man who is caring and likes to go out and have fun. I seek a masculine male who is not into S&M. I like a man who knows how to love. Call Ken _____ . Only serious need apply.

And:

"Attractive black male, 31, wishes to meet same. Call –––––– . But, no frogs, dogs, pigs, church sissies or Diana Ross fans, please."

(Image: Dandy's – Gay Chicago April 21, 1988)

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Front Page headline reads "White's defense plays up Milk's gayness." The article begins:

"The gay issue is apparently gaining increasing importance in the Daniel White trial in San Francisco as the accused murderer of Mayor George Moscone and openly-gay Supervisor Harvey Milk is being depicted by his defense as a man driven to a desperate act by an array of political forces.

"The Sentinel, one of San Francisco's leading gay newspapers, reported that ‘it has been obvious from the beginning of the trial that the defense intends to play heavily on Milk's homosexuality and the constituency he represented.'"

1984

Judy Tenuta appears at Man's Country, 5015 N. Clark St.

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In the bars and clubs this week, Joe Kregor provides the entertainment at Gentry, 712 N. Rush St.; Sundays is Bagel Bash – Complimentary lox and bagels – at Take One, 2570 N. Clark St.
"Our garden party starts with a Mr. Manhandler Contest" at 1948 N. Halsted; Ginni Clemens and Merle Markland perform at Opal Station, 6655 N. Clark St.; Bertie Lee and the New Ground, a country and western band, appear at Bus Stop, 520 N. Clark St.; "So Many Men, So Little Time" let Miquel Brown tell you why at Paradise Chicago, 2848 N. Broadway.

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(Image: Nightlines Cover – Nightlines March 16, 1994)

Gay bestsellers at Unabridged Books:

Softcover: 1) "Saul's Book" by Paul T. Rogers (Penguin Press, $6.95); 2) "Kindred Spirits: An Anthology of Gay/Lesbian Science Fiction Stories" (Alyson, $6.95); 3) "Crysty Dancing" by John Coriolan (Grey Fox Press, $7.95); 4) "Shuttlecock" by Phil Andros (Perineum Press, $7.95); 5) "Totempole" by Sandford Friedman (North Point Press, $13.50).

Hardcover: 1) "The Male Couple" by Andrew McWhirter and Andrew Mattison (Prentice Hall, $16.95); 2) "As If After Sex" by Joseph Torchia (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, $12.95); 3) "Nighthawk" by Joseph Hansen (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, $12.95); 4) "Parisian Lives" by Samuel Steward (St. Martin's Press, $12.95); and 5) "Why We Never Danced the Charleston" – by Harlan Greene (St. Martin's Press, $12.95)

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Headline on the front page of Gay Life reads: "3 Men Murdered in the West Side." The article begins:

"A church pianist, his lover of 20 years, and a friend were found murdered execution-style Sunday, May 6 at the couple's apartment at 4849 W. Fulton.

"Police have no suspect and would not comment on possible motives. There was no evidence of drugs or robbery in the ransacked apartment, police said.

"Willie Dean Morton, 53, and George Brown, 38, were found bound and gagged with neckties and sashes in the front bedroom of the second floor apartment they had shared for nine years. David Green, 40, was found in a bathroom doorway. He had not been bound or gagged. All three had been shot in the left side of their head at close range. Spent 38 caliber shells were found in the apartment."

1995

"Everybody Does It" is showing at the Bijou Adult Movie Theater, 1349 N. Wells. "Birds do it. Bees do it. Let us do it! Uniformed cops Rod Majors and Dave Turner do it to handcuffed sex criminals Cougar Cash and Latin hunk Joe Romero in the pokie."

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C.A.L.O.R., a community based Latino HIV/AIDS service organization, presents an art exhibit featuring the works of Latino artists at the Roberto Lopez Gallery, 1579 N. Milwaukee.

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(Image: Big Chicks – Nightlines May 29, 1991)

National Feminist Bookstore Week celebrates the accomplishments and successes of feminist bookstores locally and nationwide. Women and Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark St., highlights new books and staff favorites published by feminist and lesbian publishers.

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Windy City Gay Naturists hold a swim party at the Jane Addams Community Center, 3212 N. Broadway.

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Pride Youth, a confidential drop-in center for youth who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or uncertain, meets at Evanston Unitarian Church, 1300 Ridge, for "Street Smarts."

Gay Chicago Photo Rewind

David Boyer and guess who? ... at Cell Block

Harry and friend at Madrigals

March 16, 1994 in Nightlines. Photo by Cathy Seabaugh. Where is she now?

February 16, 1994 in Nightlines. Photo by Tracy Baim

Gay Chicago Homework

What happened to Windy City Gay Nudists?

What happened to Man's World?

Does anyone know anything about the triple murder in 1984?

Thanks go to publishers Michael Bergeron for Chicago Gay Crusader, Ralph and Craig 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.