Gay life in Chicago this week, back in... 1979, 1991 and 2001

(January 17-23, 2019)

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

1979

TOP TEN CHICAGO PLAYLIST:

1) "I Will Survive" – Gloria Gaynor; 2) "Keen on Dancing" – Gary's Gang; 3) "Contact" – Edwin Starr; 4) "Souvenirs" – Voyage; 5) "I Love the Night" – Alicia Bridges; 6) "YMCA" – Village People; 7) "Heaven Stop Dancing Yet" – Gonzalez; 8) "Little Lovin" – Raes; 9) "Baby I'm Burnin'" – Dolly Parton; 10) "Countdown" – Dan Hartman.

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This letter appeared in the Chicago Tribune from Chicago Heights resident Thomas H. Henning:

"I salute Anita Bryant.

"One of the dubious fringe benefits attendant to the production line of bodies under John Gacy's home in Norwood Park will be a temporary cessation of Anita Bryant jokes by TV comics, and the moratorium on gay rights activists jamming their picket signs in our faces.

"Considering that this case is the third homosexual murder mill uncovered in the past four years, it is reasonable to assume that it is merely the tip of the iceberg involving the disappearance of thousands of young people annually. I hold littler brief for anyone who idea of manly achievement is to fling a pie into the face of this brave woman.

"So I salute Anita Bryant, the modern Joan of Arc, who at tremendous personal cost stood up to defend the country of our country."

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IMAGE: Alcala's Western Wear – Gay Chicago August 19, 1993

An article in Gay Life reads:

"The blizzard has caused a number of events to be postponed or canceled this week. The benefit, starring Gotham, on behalf of Grant Ford's aldermanic campaign has been rescheduled (again) for Saturday, Jan. 20. The event will take place at Center Stage and there will be 2 shows, 8 and 11 p.m. Tickets are $10.

"The appearances by Alan Lozito and Charles Pierce at Park West which were set for this weekend have been canceled and will be rescheduled at a later time.

"The Tavern Guild of Chicago has announced that the auction at Little Jim's for the Frank M. Rodde III Memorial Building Fund which was to be held on Jan. 27 and 28, has been canceled and will be held February 24 and 25."

1991

In the clubs and bars, Jimmy James returns to sing in the voices of Marilyn Monroe, Cher, Patsy Cline, Eartha Kitt, and more, at Vortex, 3631 N. Halsted; the Chicago Meat Packers dance at Bistro Too, 5015 N. Clark St. every Friday and Saturday; Tommy McCracken, the only Cherokee Indian singing the blues, performs at Touche, 6412 N. Clark St.; and you can hear Underground House Music every Friday and Saturday at the Normandy, 3401 N. Sheffield.

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IMAGE: Opal Station – Gay Life June 13, 1985

An article in Windy City Times begins:

"Chicago House co-founder Thom Dombkowski was named Jan. 9 as one of three winners of the Stonewall Awards, a new $25,000 prize that a Chicago futures trader established to honor gay, lesbian and AIDS activism.

"In 1987 Dombkowski co-founded Chicago House, which provides a living environment for people with AIDS, and later served as its executive director. Since then, it has grown from one residence to three locations and currently serves 24 residents at care levels varying from independent living to hospice-like care."

2001

The Chicago Professional Networking Association's January dinner featuring Jeff Montgomery of the Triangle Foundation, takes place at Ann Sather, 929 W. Belmont.

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IMAGE: Man's Country – Gay Life August 22, 1985

"We're Different, We're Special" is a cabaret from Ty Perry and Pamela Sue Fox, at Davenport's, 1383 N. Milwaukee.

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The Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association Prism youth group meet at 1145 Westgate, Suite 106, Oak Park.

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IMAGE: 21 Club – Gay Chicago June 27, 1985

An article in Windy City Times begins:

"A straight Rogers Park man who has claimed off-duty Chicago police officers viciously gay-bashed him outside a Northwest Side bar has filed a $3 million federal lawsuit against the city, three officers and the tavern.

"The suit's filing was announced at a press conference last Thursday outside the office of Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine.

"The suit claims that early on Nov. 25, officers targeted Jeffrey Lyons, 39, after seeing him embrace a friend outside the Grand central Station bat, 5726 W. Grand Ave., popular hangout for police officers from the Grand-Central District station about two blocks away."

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An article in Windy City Times reads:

"A Des Plaines man has received a 60-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the 1998 murder of a Wisconsin man he met at the Chicago Eagle bar, according to the Cook County state's attorney's office.

"Patrick Bailey, 36, admitted to killing William Rosenbaum, 33, at the former Eden's Hotel, 6020 N. Cicero, after picking him up at the Eagle, 5000 N. Clark, said Patti Simone, spokeswoman for the state's attorney.

"Rosenbaum was in town from St. Francis, Wisc., when the Aptil 28, 1998, murder occurred.

"Bailey was accused of strangling Rosenbaum with a belt after the two had intercourse, and then stabbing him in the back, stomach and chest. He also carved out his belly button and bit off his left nipple, Simone said."

Homework

Is Jimmy James still around?

Did anyone see Tommy McCracken singing at Touche?

Is Alan Lozito still around?

Gay Chicago Photo Rewind

Mike Williams and Craig Gernhardt took these photographs of Mr. Paradise and Mr. Redoubt for Gay Chicago August 8, 1985

Alfredo Gonzalez is Mr. Normandy in Gay Chicago August 16, 1985

Falcon's erotic video star, Chase Hunter in Gay Chicago December 23, 1993

Sherman Heinrich took this photograph of Stardust for Gay Chicago June 20, 1985

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.