May 5-11, 2016

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

1985

In the bars and clubs, hot buns at Bucks, 3439 N. Halsted St., and free burgers too over the weekend of the opening of the new patio; you are cordially invited to Christopher Street, 3458 N. Halsted, for a Tea Without the Dance, featuring a five piece jazz combo, finger sandwiches at six, and Long Island Teas $1.50; "Strike Against AIDS Raffle Party" at Augie/CK's, 3726 N. Broadway; Lip Synch Contest featuring Andrea & Co at Normandy, 3400 N. Clark St.; Furry, Cuddly, Teddy Bear '85 $100 cash for 1st prize at Teddies, 3160 N. Clark St.; and Sheryl Lee Ralph, recording star of Broadway's "Dreamgirls," sings her hit songs "In the Evening," and "I'm So Romantic," at Trianon, 3150 N. Halsted.

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IMAGE: Christopher Street – Gay Chicago October 5, 1989

An article in Gay Life reads:

"Two gay bills were defeated by 4-1 margins Tuesday, May 7, in the Illinois House of Representatives.

"House Bill 8, which would have added 'sexual orientation' to the state's Human Rights Act tallied 79 'no' votes, 19 'yes' votes, and 13 'present' votes.

"House Bill 9, which would have added 'sexual orientation' to the state's Ethnic Intimidation Act, got 79 'no' votes, 19 'yes' votes, and 13 'present' votes.

"'I am enraged that these bills received only 19 votes,' said Tim Drake, who chairs the Illinois Gay and Lesbian Task Force state bills committee. 'I will withhold further comment until I go over the roll call vote,' he said."

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IMAGE: Gold Coast ­– Gay Chicago November 10, 1978

VIDEO PLAYLIST courtesy of Tom Parks of Hunters: 1) "In My House" – Mary Jane Girls; 2) "Get Into the Groove" – Madonna; 3) "Smooth Operator/Hang Onto Your Love" – Sade; 6) "Things Can Only Get Better" – Howard Jones; 7) "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" – Tears for Fears; 8) "Sussudio" – Phil Collins; 9) "Rhythm of the Night" – DeBarge; 10) "All She Wants To Do is Dance" – Don Henley; 11) "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" – Frankie Goes to Hollywood; 12) "Fresh" – Kool and the Gang; 13) "Say It Again" – Santana; 14) "The Men All Pause" – Klymaxx; 15) "You Spin Me Round" – Dead or Alive.

1997

Tracy Baim writes in Off the Cuffs in Nightlines:

"OK, OK, the big news this week was also perhaps one of the most significant events impacting the lesbigay community in the past several years. While we hate to admit/submit to the power of TV, the coming-out episode of Ellen was watched by 42 million people–that's almost one out of every five Americans! She had a 26.5 rating (her average before was 9.6) and a 37 share of the audience (before she had averaged 16) in major markets. Her ratings even beat the Bulls in a play-off game in their home market. Seeing the show with a bunch of other queers was the best way to enjoy the spirit and significance of this show. The Paris Dance and Sidetrack events, which Nightlines co-hosted as benefits for Horizons, were jam-packed with a sea of supporters. There were also more than 3,000 Human Rights Campaign 'house party' benefits around the U.S., as well as GLAAD events around the country. The episode was extremely well written, and hopefully the show's writers will be able to keep up the good work. The hype surrounding this coming out may have been a bit much for even gay people to take, and Ellen may have a long way to go in realizing she doesn't have to put down 'dykes on bikes' and drag queens to justify her love, but this was one giant step forward for queerkind."

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A true adventure of 2 girls in love, the Sichel Sisters film "All Over Me," is showing at Pipers Alley, 1608 N. Wells.

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IMAGE: Male Hide Leathers – Gay Life November 3, 1979

Per4mance and Homocore Chicago present Kaia in her Chicago concert debut at Paris Dance, 1122 W. Montrose.

2010

Article in Windy City Times reads:

"Chicago Free Press closes.

"Kerrie Kennedy, managing editor of the local LGBT publication Chicago Free Press (CFP), sent an e-mail out Monday, May 3, announcing that the publication was folding after a decade of publishing.

"The statement read, in part: 'Due to health problems, publisher David Costanzo is no longer funding the operation of Chicago Free Press. Consequently, the paper's April 29 issue was not published, and it is not expected that any additional issues will be published. While this is unfortunate, I'd like to focus on the wonderful history of CFP.'

"Last December, several top staffers left CFP after complaints of slow payments. Some re- turned, but more left recently after the slow payments reportedly happened again.

"CFP was launched in August 1999 by former staffers of the original Windy City Times. Those two papers battled it out in the community and the courts for a year before Jeff McCourt shut down WCT and then sold it to Outlines Publisher Tracy Baim, who had co-founded WCT with McCourt, Bob Bearden and Drew Badanish in 1985. Baim merged Outlines newspaper with WCT and the new Windy City Times launched fall of 2000. 'This is not a day to celebrate,' said Baim. 'All media, gay and mainstream, are facing new and difficult paths to survival. So it is never a good thing when a media outlet closes. We at Windy City Times will continue to strive to cover all parts of our community through every tool at our disposal, from traditional newsprint to iPhones, the Internet, video and podcasting."

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IMAGE: Otis Richardson cartoon – Nightlines February 9, 2000

"Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South," an oral history of Black, gay Southern life from the book by E. Patrick Johnson is a co-production with the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media, Columbia College Chicago. Takes place thru May 29 at the Viaduct Theater, 3111 N. Western Ave.,

Homework

What happened to Otis Richardson?

Who remembers Homocore?

Anybody know who owned Teddies?

Gay Chicago Photo Rewind

Spike King's "King's Korner in Gay Chicago July 12, 1990

Sherman Heinrich photographs Marion and Mark, owners of Hunter's for Gay Chicago May 2, 1985

Jerry Nunn photographs at Jackhammer for Nightspots April 1, 2015

Kirk Williamson takes his camera to Big Chicks for Nightspots April 2, 2008

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.