April 14-20, 2016

1989

Mark Schoofs writes in Windy City Times:

"Propelled by a 15-1 vote, legislation to monitor anti-lesbian/gay hate crimes advanced out of committee and to the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives on Friday, April 7. The bill, HB 706, seeks to expand an already-existing Illinois law requiring the State to compile statistics on crimes motivated by hatred of particular groups; the new bill would add sexual orientation and physical disability to the list of groups monitored under the existing legislation. The Illinois Gay and Lesbian Task Force (IGLTF), which has made the bill one of its priorities, is calling for a major letter-writing campaign to help ensure the bill's final passage."

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IMAGE: Touche – Gay Life April 15, 1977

After Dark in Gay Chicago writes:

"Good news for gay theater: 'Jerker,' Robert Chesley's play with the subtitle, 'A Pornographic Elegy with Redeeming Social Value in Twenty Phone Calls, Many of Them Dirty,' opened at the Bailiwick on April 2, has been picking up business, and is resulting in sold-out business.

"And even better news: 'Jerker' is just the first of a trio of plays planned by Bailiwick as the Late Night Gay and Lesbian Theater Series. The other two – 'The Well of Horniness,' by lesbian playwright Holly Hughes, and 'Forget Him,' by Harvey Fierstein – open in July."

1992

You can see "Dirty Dreams of a Clean-Cut Kid," written by Henry Mach, composed by Paul Katz, co-directed by Buddy King and Henry Mach, at Puszh Studios, 3829 N. Broadway.

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IMAGE: Madrigals – Gay Chicago September 11, 2003

In the clubs and bars, Rudy de La Mor is back at Gentry, 712 N. Rush St.; every Sunday is Dinosaur Disco 70's music 70's drinks and 70s drink prices at Vortex, 3631 N. Halsted; Chicago's Original Country Dance hosted by David Boyer with Ron Goodman DJ at Puszh Studios, 3829 N. Broadway; Kenned and Carl entertain at North End, 3733 N. Halsted St.; there's a Full Moon Easter Basket & Egg Hunt at the AA Meat Market, 2933 N. Lincoln; it's the Glamorous Spark of High-Heeled Boys, Kelly Cole, Terri Page,Tata Lamor, Billy Black, at the Nutbush, 7201 Franklin, Forest Park.

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Article in Gay Chicago begins:

"Three Chicago-area AIDS programs will receive a total of $71,656 raised at the Strike Against AIDS 1992 Celebrity Bowl and Cash Raffle held on April 4, at Marigold Bowl.

"Thanks to the efforts of 56 celebrity bowlers who participated in the event and hundreds of individuals who made pledges or purchased raffle tickets, the Children's Memorial Medical Center and Howard Brown Memorial Clinic will receive $25,004 and $37,412 respectively. The third agency, the Midwest AIDS Foundation, will receive $9, 240."

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Dignity/Chicago, the gay Catholic group, celebrates 20 years of Faith & Pride with Good Friday Vespers at 656 W. Barry.

2012

"Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches and Part 2: Perestroika." A portion of the opening night proceeds will benefit the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. 3pm Part 1: Millennium, 6pm Dinner (Included in ticket price),8pm Part 2: Perestroika Tickets $150 each. 3pm, 312- 334-0935, Court Theatre, 5535 South Ellis Ave.

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IMAGE: Manhandler – Gay Chicago March 19, 1981

CGMC's Big Package Auction. Get your tickets and join the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus for the fourth annual Big Package Auction with special guest hostess, P-Town and Atlantis Cruises favorite, Miss Richfield 1981. Featuring hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, sweets, and tons of laughs! 5pm-8pm, April 14 at Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted St.

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See out singer-songwriter Matt Alber, celebrating the 6th anniversary of The Flesh Hungry Dog Show, at Jackhammer, 6406 N. Clark St.

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IMAGE: Dandy's – Gay Chicago March 29, 1993

Article in Windy City Times by Jamie Anne Royce begins:

"Augie's & C.K.'s, a popular lesbian bar in the 1970s and '80s, will host a reunion May 12, 2012. Founded as two separate bars, Augie's and C.K.'s merged, making its home at 3726 N. Broadway, where the bar Charlie's is now located. C.K.'s first opened at 1425 W. Diversey Ave. around August 1972, but moved to 2417 N. Milwaukee Ave. by January 1979. Augie's also opened in 1972 at 3729 N. Halsted St. "I just decided to open up the bar because there were no girls' bars," said Augie. "I had just come back from a trip to Puerto Rico, and they had a beautiful girls' bar. And that inspired me."

"The bar quickly became a community for the regulars. They formed sports leagues, participated in the annual Pride Parade, and hosted picnics. 'The bar meant everything. We had such a strong group of friends,' said Victoria "Pickles" Martinez, who bartended at C.K.'s and Augie's & C.K.'s. 'Especially working there, everyone that I met, the resources I got, all the involvement in the different sports and the camaraderie with the women meant so much to me.'

Martinez started working the door and the coat check at C.K.'s because C.K. wouldn't let her tend bar until she had experience. After working in a few other nightspots, she began working behind the bar. When Augie's & C.K.'s closed in 1994, she continued to tend bar in gay nightspots until January 2011."

Homework

Who went to Augie and CK's?

What happened to Matt Alber?

Who saw "Jerker"?

Gay Chicago Photo Rewind

Spike King photographs at Carol's Speakeasy and Adrene "Big Red" Perom for Gay Chicago July 12, 1990

Steve Picon at the Celebrity Club for its first anniversary in Gay Chicago March 17, 1983

Leather Guy winner in Gay Life October 17, 1976

Anthony Meade photographs at the Center on Halsted for Nightspots April 1, 2015

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.