2001
An article in Windy City Times reads:
"The recent closing of the Cellblock bar's back room and a rumored raid at the Manhandler had tongues wagging in the community about a possible crackdown on the city's gay sex spaces, but sources at both bars said, in this case, fiction is stranger than truth.
"'We had some trouble with the roof," said Patti Brown, manager of the Cellblock, 3702 N. Halsted, on why the bar's back room has been closed. 'Hopefully it'll be open this weekend. We're working on it as we speak.'
"Contrary to bar buzz, he said, the closing was not related to a recent visit by Chicago police.
"'I could tell you 85 different rumors about why that room is closed, and none of them are true,' Brown said.
"The police responded to (an anonymous) complaint, they didn't find anything, and they left,' he said, 'We have a very good relationship with the police. They were here doing their job; it had nothing to do with us.'
"He noted that bar's owner is on a police department advisory committee.
"At the Manhandler, 1948 N. Halsted, a staffer who asked not to be identified also said the gossip mill had blown their situation out of proportion.
"They said there was a police raid? That's so funny,' he said. 'There was not a police raid. (A bartender) called the police' after confronting a disruptive customer who had been kicked out of the bar on a previous occasion.
"The man was arrested and faces a court date, he said.
"Rumors of a possible crackdown came as some said the incidents were suspiciously close to the November closing of Big Daddies, 2914 N. Broadway.
"According to the Chicago Department of Revenue, the bar's license expired on Nov. 15 and owners did not renew it.
"Some observers say the rumors speak to the community's fears about a new, Republican presidential administration.
"When police arrived at Cellblock, for instance, one patron reportedly turned to another and said, 'Welcome to the next four years.'"