November 12-18, 2015

1984

Top 15 Dance Hits courtesy Roger Wolff, DJ at Man's Country Music Hall: 1) "If It's Love" – Jackson Moore; 2) "Back in My Arms" – Hazell Dean; 3) "Thief of Hearts" – Melissa Manchester; 4) "Touch" – Secession; 5) "I Need You Tonight" – Peter Wolf; 6) "Black Leather" – Miquel Brown; 7) "Funk Sumatra" – Marsico; 8) "I Don't Want to Lose You (Remix)" – Lime; 9) "When the Rain Begins to Fall" – Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora; 10) "Second Best" – Evelyn Thomas; 11) "Can the Rhythm" – Girl Talk; 12) "Don't Give Your Love (So Easily)" – Kimyla; 13) "Last Call" – Jo Lo; 14) "The Game of Chance" – The Twins; 15) "Hands Off" – Laura Pallas.

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IMAGE: Nightlines Cover – Nightlines October 24, 1990

Article by Albert Williams in Gay Life begins:

"An enterprising group of Northwestern University speech and drama students are presenting Martin Sherman's drama 'Bent' at the school the weekend of Nov. 8-10–which also happens to be the school's parents' weekend.

"'Bent,' produced on Broadway in 1978, is described by Brad Weissberg as 'a controversial play not a pretty play. It's not about homosexuality, it's about choices,' adds Weissberg, who is staging the drama for Arts Alliance, a student-run, university-funded organization 'devoted to the presentation of quality theater at Northwestern.

"The choices that "Bent's" Hero, Max, makes are life-and-death ones, related directly to his homosexuality and the persecution he suffers as a result. 'Bent' is set in Nazi Germany, where homosexuals were sent to concentration camps and, by some reports, treated even worse than the Jews."

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IMAGE: Dandy's – Gay Chicago November 11, 1993

In Gay Life, Tracy Baim writes:

"Women's coffeehouses, especially in the Midwest, are the lifeline of women's alternative culture, reflected feminist humorist Kate Clinton after performing for a record turnout of women at Chicago's Mountain Moving Coffeehouse last weekend.

"On the eve of its 10th anniversary, Mountain Moving members estimated at least 500 women filled the pews, aisles and even the stage in the 300-seat church where Clinton lent a lesbian-feminist perspective to everything from politics and God to family reunions and advertising."

1993

In the bars and clubs, it's the 10th anniversary of Berlin, 954 W. Belmont; there's a showing of photography by Don Williams at the Lucky Horseshoe Lounge, 3169 N. Halsted; Chicago Meatpackers are in the Music Hall at Man's Country, 5015-17 N. Clark St.; "Disco Palace" with Jungle Jorge Suarez and Danny Goss on platters and the Palace Go-Go Girls in the window.

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IMAGE: Homopalooza '93 – Gay Chicago November 11, 1993

In Gay Chicago, Justin Sunward writes:

"'Day Without Art' is the art community's annual effort to focus the public's attention on the dual concepts of the importance of art in everyday life and the massive toll that AIDS has wrought upon the arts community. Held on December 1st, this special day is designed not only to increase an awareness of the impact of AIDS, but also as a memorial to those who have been cut down by this modern scourge. Implicit in all of this is the very real fact that the entire human family has been rendered permanently poorer through the premature loss of each creative person who has been felled by AIDS. There is literally no way to calculate the number of life enriching masterpieces that were never produced, that will never be passed on to posterity, because of AIDS."

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Article in Gay Chicago begins:

"Stop AIDS Chicago announced the recipient of the 1993 James Balcazar Memorial Award. Angel Abcede, program coordinator for the Sex Police, a multi-faceted performing arts group, received the award for his continuing efforts at raising AIDS awareness among the youth of Chicago."

2008

An article by Amy Wooten in Windy City Times begins:

"Hundreds of LGBT activists and their allies braved the bitter cold Nov. 8 to demonstrate downtown against Focus on the Family's James Dobson.

"An estimated 500 people, many of them young and new faces, gathered outside of Chicago's Renaissance Hotel, where Dobson was being awarded by the Chicago-based Museum of Broadcast Communications. For months, local and national LGBT activists planned to demonstrate against the museum's induction of Dobson into the National Radio Hall of Fame. Although the protest was initially going to be focused on the museum awarding Dobson, who has preached anti-gay hate over the airwaves for decades, many people also marched in solidarity against the passage of California's Proposition 8 that evening. Dobson played a pivotal role in Proposition 8's passage, and his group, Focus on the Family, donated $800,000 to the anti-gay-marriage measure. Proposition 8 banned same-sex marriage in California, and invalidated the marriages of thousands of gay and lesbian couples who wed during the time it was legal.

"Chicago's Gay Liberation Network (GLN) and the New York-based organization Truth Wins Out (TWO) initiated the protest."

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IMAGE: Night of 100 Drag Queens – Windy City Times October 24, 1996

Alison Bechdel, "The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For" is at Women and Children First, 5233 N. Clark St.

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Quoted in Windy City Times: "The idea that being gay could ruin your career in Hollywood is more old school than reruns of Will & Grace. Ellen DeGeneres has the biggest talk show on TV after Oprah, and it's been a long decade since she broke down the closet door as the first openly gay sitcom star (Ugly Betty, Gossip Girl, even The Sopranos had a gay character). Plus, (Clay) Aiken got his start on what's arguably the gayest show on TV—American Idol. Aiken's announcement (that he's gay) almost over-shadowed the other gay news of the week. Lindsay Lohan confirmed she's been dating a 31-year-old woman named Samantha Ronson for 'a very long time.'" — Ramin Setoodeh writing at Newsweek.com, Sept. 25.

Homework

Who remembers the Sex Police?

Where is Albert Williams?

What happened to "A Day Without Art"?

Gay Chicago Photo Rewind

Sherman Heinrich photographs in Milwaukee for Gay Chicago August 31, 1989

Ralph Paul takes pictures at the Fireplace Inn for Gay Chicago October 14, 1982

Mystery photos in Gay Chicago October 24, 1996. Who are they?

Terry Gaskins photographs in Vortex, Hunter's and the Eagle for Gay Chicago October 24, 1996

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.