Gay life in Chicago this week, back in... 1985, 1995 and 2001

(November 22-28, 2018)

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

1985

In the bars and clubs, you can watch "Dynasty" every week at the Gold Coast, 501 N. Clark St.; humorist Will Durst plus Carolyn "Chickie" Ford perform at Byfield's, 1301 N. State Pkwy; you can watch "All My Children" every week at Berlin, 954 W. Belmont; it's "Chicago Music Night" every Thursday at Paradise, 2848 N. Broadway; the NEW Showcase Follies at Showcase One, 959 W. Belmont, stars Brian Winston, Jamie Lee Curtis, Diana McKay, Michael Lewis, Tony Hamilton, and special guests; every Wednesday thru Sunday, you can see male dancers at Inner Circle, 2546 N. Clark St.; Powerplant presents the music of Frankie Knuckles at Trianon, 3150 N. Halsted St.; there's a Turkey Drawing at the Pelican, 6341 N. Clark St.

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IMAGE: Cover – Gay Chicago April 27, 1989

VIDEO PLAYLIST courtesy of Pepin Pena at Sidetrack: 1) "Alive and Kicking" – Simple Minds; 2) "My Heart Goes Bang" – Dead of Alive; 3) "The Dance Electric" – Andre Cymone; 4) "And She Was" – Talking Heads; 5) "That's What Friends Are For" – Dionne and Friends; 6) "Dress You Up" – Madonna; 7) "Hell in Paradise" – Yoko Ono; 8) "Part Time Lover" – Stevie Wonder; 9) "Slave to the Rhythm" – Grace Jones; 10) "Say You, Say Me" – Lionel Richie.

1995

An article in Gay Chicago reads:

"Waterstone's Books and Music will continue its tradition of providing gift-wrapping throughout the holiday season, with a twist. The gift-wrapping will be done by volunteers representing the AIDS Pastoral Care Network. In this partnership, customers will not be charged for the service of gift-wrapping, but will be free to give a donation to APCN. All the donations collected will be used to further the mission of APCN in its outreach to people in the Chicago community impacted by HIV/AIDS. To schedule a time to gift-wrap or get information about APCN, call Dan Lunney at _____ "

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IMAGE: Mr. Mid-America Leather Contest – Gay Chicago April 27, 1989

An article in Gay Chicago begins:

"Chicagoland gay and lesbian business owners have announced the formation of a Chicago Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Designed for businesses that are owned by gay, lesbian or bisexual people, the chamber will launch its first project, a 'walking map' of gay and lesbian-owned businesses in the Lakeview area early next spring."

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In the obituary column in Gay Chicago:

"Kenneth S. Allen, 37, died on Saturday, November 11, 1995 of complications due to AIDS. He died peacefully in the presence of family and friends at Chicago House."

"Michael Barto, 33, died on Tuesday, November 7 of complications due to AIDS. He had recently returned to Chicago after spending the last year with his family in Virginia Beach, Virginia."

"Michael Lee Barlow, 24, died on Sunday, October 29 in his home, where he was found by his roommates Rae Elgin and Gary Reiken. He had not been ill. The cause of death has not yet been determined."

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IMAGE: TJ's on Oak – Gay Chicago April 20, 1989

Quotelines in Outlines:

"I do not find myself attracted to my own sex. I had to get past that because the story was important enough, (but) it was uncomfortable." – Actress Terry Farrell on her Jadzia Dax character's same-sex kiss on "Star Trek."

And:

"Many actors parade their heterosexuality in the media, and I don't want to be party to that." – Doug Savant, who plays the gay character Matt on Melrose Place, on why he doesn't answer media questions about his sexuality.

IMAGE: Cairo – Gay Chicago April 27, 1989

Quotelines in Outlines:

And:

"Playing Susan has made me really proud of my feminine sexuality. It's made me very free, very positive about sex in general, and I have never felt that from straight women before." – Jessica Hecht, on her lesbian character in "Friends."

And:

"They're great. Got the best music there, got the best atmosphere. You know, you have to throw out all that bull, all that prejudice against gay people. I'm straight bro, but you can go anywhere you want to." – Chicago Bull Dennis Rodman when asked about his hanging out in gay bars.

2001

An article in Windy City Times begins:

"On the busiest shopping day of the year, activists targeted the Salvation Army for its anti-gay policies. The event was timed to coincide with one of the Army's signature events, bell ringing on State Street on the day after Thanksgiving.

"The Nov. 23 protest, at State and Randolph Streets was sponsored by the Glenview Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the Metropolitan Community Churches (Great Lakes district), and the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network."

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An interview with Jim Dohr in Sukie de la Croix's Chicago Whispers in Windy City Times:

"In '77 I quit my job at the hotel to become assistant manager of a bar called Den One, which was a disaster. Den One was on Wells Street and later became Carol's Speakeasy. I wanted to get into the bar business, I'd had enough of the hotel business. Stella was going to be the manager of Den One, and I decided to go work with him. Then he got fired, or he quit, or whatever, and I became the manager. I had no idea what I was doing. They let go of me within two weeks.

"So I was looking for a job and I started working for Chuck in the Renslow offices, which were in the basement of the mansion. I was doing accounting clerk work and that kind of stuff. As I got more and more involved, I took on more responsibilities. In '79 I did a lot of office work for International Mr. Leather, then from '80 to '84 I was the weekend coordinator for IML.

"But back in '81 Chuck fired his manager at the Gold Coast and the bartenders were all asking, 'Who's the manager, what's going on?' I kept telling them I didn't know, so eventually I walked into Chuck's office one day and said, 'Chuck, things are starting to get out of hand at the Gold Coast, we need a manager down there. Have we interviewed anybody? Do we have a new manager?' He just looked at me and said, 'Yes, you are.' That's how I became the manager of the Gold Coast.

"I was at a point where I was ready for another transition. When the Gold Coast downtown closed, we moved north to 5025 N. Clark St. Then, when Frank Kellas took over the bar, I told Chuck I wasn't making any money, so he made me assistant manager of Man's Country. I did that for a couple of years and then I decided I'd had enough of Chicago, so I moved to Arkansas.

"I worked on a rice farm and cotton farm with an ex-lover of mine, until I got run out of town by his cousin and his uncle, who basically said, 'It's time for Jimmy to go back to the big city before we get out the dogs and the shotgun.

"So I came back to Chicago and started working in hotels again. Then, since I worked nights, I would drop into Bulldog Road at 7 o'clock in the morning to see Feathers, and Thursdays was Feather's day off, and so Woody Lorenza, a friend of mine who owned the bar, was looking for a bartender just on Thursdays. It was just one shift a week, so it was a hard shift to fill, but I said I could do that, do I did that for three or four years."

Homework

Who were Will Durst and Carolyn "Chickie" Ford?

Who remembers the Trianon bar?

Did anyone go to the Pelican?

Gay Chicago Photo Rewind

Terry Gaskins photographs in Las Mananitas restaurant for Gay Chicago August 19, 1993

Terry Gaskins photographs around town for Gay Chicago October 28, 1993

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.