June 19-25, 2014

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

1993

In the bars and clubs this week, it's Psycho Bitch Wednesdays at Roscoe's, 3354-3356 N. Halsted; there's a Daddy of A Contest at North End, 3733 N. Halsted; Gay Pride Week Kickoff Party with a Daddy's Auction and auctioneers Kay Hallanger and Jack Rinella at Touche, 6412 N. Clark St.; Jon Bradley presents Miss Chicago Continental 1993 at the Baton Show Lounge, 436 N. Clark St.; it's Family Pride at AA Meat Market, 2933 N. Lincoln; the original Monday night party is back at Hideaway II, 7301 W. Roosevelt; Excess "Aint it Great –– We Ain't Straight" Party at Vortex with a "Closet Queen" contest $500 in cash prizes with DJ's Teri Bristol and Psycho Bitch.

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IMAGE: The Virgo Out – Gay Life February 1978

In Gay Chicago:

"Pride Month is well underway with a calendar of events, ranging from choral concerts, to sporting events, to the 24th annual Pride Parade on Sunday June 27. With a lengthened parade route and expanded Rally/Music Fest, the Chicago 24th annual pride Celebration promises to be the biggest and best to date. The international theme of this year is 'A Family of Pride.'"

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Headline on the cover of this week's Gay Chicago reads: "A Passion for People," Elizabeth Taylor and the fight against AIDS."

1999

A poetry and fiction reading for LGBT's, open mic and invited readers, takes place at Women and Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark St.

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Article in this week's Outlines reads:

"A Chicago Gay man claims a June 12 incident involving verbal antigay harassment escalated when the conductor of a late-night CTA Howard "L" train would not intervene or call police.

"Mike Riley, 35, alleges that he was confronted around 4 a.m. by a man yelling anti-gay slurs. After the man verbally harassed and spit on him, Riley, who said he did nothing to provoke the attack, pulled the emergency cord opening the door to stop the train. The conductor came out and said he had to go to the next station, then call police, and that his job was just to drive the train.

"He convinced Riley to let go of the lever, and then the train proceeded to Bryn Mawr.

"What happened next, Riley is unclear of. He believes the passenger, a 200lb white male, punched him–Riley awoke after being passed out on the floor, with the man kicking him."

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IMAGE: Bailiwick – Outlines March 1995

In Quotelines in Outlines:

"'Gay Pride' is mainly a form of PR propaganda aimed both at a large number of gays who have yet to fully accept themselves, and at those heterosexuals who find themselves able to feel a smug, disdainful superiority to gays" – Columnist Paul Varnell.

"I, William J. Clinton ...by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 1999 as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. I encourage all Americans to observe this month ..." – White House press release, June 11.

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WTTW-Channel 11 airs "After Stonewall: From the Riots to the Millennium," narrated by Melissa Etheridge.

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Chicago Anti-Bashing Network Pride Parade Contingent poster making party (for Pride Parade) takes place at 4404 N. Magnolia.

2008

There's a special screening of "Rock Bottom" at the Center on Halsted Street, 3656 N. Halsted. It's a riveting documentary film about gay men and their struggle with crystal meth. There is a Q & A panel discussion following the screening.

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IMAGE: Wet Dreams – Nightspots May 14, 2003

Newtown Writers, Chicago's GLBT literary workshop, meets at Gerber/Hart Library, 1127 W. Granville Ave.

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"LGBT Writers and Their Craft," a panel discussion moderated by Carol Ashaw and featuring playwright Patricia Kane, novelist Robert Rodi, and poet Gregg Shapiro, is on the lower level Video Theater at the Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State St.

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Shout! The Lakeside Pride Jazz Band and the Lakeside Pride Saxophone Ensemble perform at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted.

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"An Art Show to Benefit Vital Bridges," an international slate of artists selling work to benefit the Chicago-area food pantry, is at Cell Block, 3702 N. Halsted St.

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"Beyond Stonewalled," building a grassroots alliance to create police accountability "A Chicago Community Forum and Call to Action" at Broadway United Methodist Church, 3344 N. Broadway.

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Association for Latino Men for Action hosts "Loteria Joteria," bingo night at Mi Tierra, 1039 W. Belmont.

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Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark St. launches a monthly series called "Sappho's Salon: A Night of Provocative Lesbian Diversions." The event includes provocative readings by Jolie du Pre and Kathie Bergquist, live music by Carrie Lydon and Kate Rickenbacker and a DY set by DJ SpinNikki

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"Big Wigs Live!" at the Park West, with Sasha Colby, Tajma Hall, Victoria LaPaige, Mimi Marks, Mercedes, Circuit Mom, Monica Munro, Regine Phillips, Patricia Roberts, Candi Stratton. Big Wigs Live! Is an odyssey of humor and humanity, based on Heather Haneman's debut memoir "Big Wigs: Stories of a Straight Girl in a Drag Queen's World."

Homework

Who saw "Rock Bottom"?

Is Sasha Colby still around?

Is Newtown Writer's still around?

Gay Chicago Photo Rewind

Kit Duffy photographed by Albert Williams for Gay Life May 22, 1984

David Rosenberg and Eileen La-Pierre photograph guys at Roscoe's and gals at Temptations May 22, 1996

St. Sukie's photographs the Pantheon of Leather Weekend at Call Block for Nightspots. (Date Unknown)

St. Sukie photographs at Lolita's for Nightspots May 14, 2003

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, Malone Sizelove for Babble/Gab, David Costanza and others for Chicago Free Press, Jeff McCourt for Windy City Times, Stacy Bridges and Mark Nagel for GRAB, 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 Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall published by the University of Wisconsin Press.