Gay life in Chicago this week, back in... 1986, 1990 and 2004

February 28 – March 6, 2019

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

1986

An article in Windy City Times begins:

"Bubbles Bistro, the Niles establishment which was allegedly harassed last year because it had a gay and lesbian clientele, was closed last week.

"Niles Chief of Police Clarence Emrickson said the establishment appears closed, as posters out front note the business has filed for bankruptcy.

"No one is answering the phones at Bubbles, the owner Malcolm Silverman and manager Scott Van Berschot could not be reached for comment. But Emrickson said he was aware for several weeks that the business was seeking bankruptcy."

"Bubbles, named for Silverman's wife, gained considerable media attention last year when the Mayor of Niles joined forces with the police department in what appeared to be harassment of the bar Bubbles was the only gay bar in Niles and was a haven for suburbanites not wishing to trek into the city for a gay bar."

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The following article by Dave Hoekstra about drag Club Victoria appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times:

"If you're being honest, a flippant attitude colors any fling into the world of female impersonation, but a walk on the wild side can come awfully close to the heart.

"Brian Winston has been showing that girls just want to have fun during the last five years at Club Victoria, 3153 N. Broadway (528-7988), but this weekend the emotional import of his profession will be realized.

"'After I got this role, (my father) would not speak to me for six years,' Winston said in an interview last week in the cabaret room of Club Victoria. 'Well, my parents are coming to see me Saturday. My mother has finally convinced my father that what I do is a job. After six years, it was very difficult for me not to have my family there. This is something I'm very happy about.

"'I came from northern Wisconsin, and it's very difficult for people up there to accept something like this,' said the 26-year-old Winston. 'It took time, but it was my life, I had to lead it and I had to get what I wanted out of it.'

"Man's avocation is an essential aspect in defining his personality, and that ethic is no different for Winston and his Club Victoria cast.

"Winston presents a plethora of illusionary characters, including Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Rivers and Carol Channing. Illusion is the key word here, for Club Victoria owner Jennifer Hammersmith refuses to hire talent employing silicon injection or hormone shots. Winston's act is live - the only lip-synching is from his stable of singers: Daphne Daniels, Jamie Curtis and Grace LaRay.

"Hammersmith, a transsexual for 20 years, said, 'We're taking an art form onstage - not a lifestyle. At places like the Baton, (female impersonators) admit they live that way. Where does the art come from that? They're dragging their lifestyle on stage. Guys who are creating an illusion - something that is not there - that is more of an art form to me.

"The first question we always get is, Are you homosexual?' Hammersmith continued. 'I have guys who work in the show who are married and this is a part-time job for them. Just because they're doing this doesn't mean they're gay."

In fact, LaRay – who actually looks like Olivia Newton-John – met his ex-wife through an illusionary revue. 'She had been at a show in South Bend, Ind., and she fell in love with Grace,' said the 24-year-old LaRay. 'We became friends and it just happened. But I had a hard time convincing her there was a difference between me and Grace.'

With Winston serving as the master/mistress of ceremonies, a predominantly suburban audience experiences everyone from a terrifically gritty Tina Turner (Daniels) to an appropriately sleazy Madonna (LaRay) to a tired and wired Judy Garland (Curtis).

"We get a lot of suburbanites, tourists and convention people,' Hammersmith said. 'We get a small amount of gays - gays traditionally stay away from this sort of thing. And this is not really a gay club. I just painted it pink as a marketing technique to let people know something outrageous was going on.'

Many times, the Club Victoria foxes outfox the wolves in the audience.

"'I can't remember a weekend that has gone by where a guy hasn't come in and fallen madly in love with Grace,' Hammersmith said. 'Then, when we have last call, Grace has to tell the guy he might not understand what's going on. It's all in fun. At first, they're a little bit embarrassed, but our purpose is to make them feel comfortable.'

"LaRay said, 'A while back, we had some people who wanted to play a joke on their boss, who was very chauvinistic. Some of the girls had been in to see the show and they wanted someone to come in and floor him. All the top-level positions went to men and the secretarial positions went to women, and that was the way he wanted it. So I dressed in a conservative business suit and skirt and went in to interview for a sales representative's job.

"I talked to the man and, by the end of the interview, I realized he was indeed a chauvinist. At the end of the interview - in front of everyone - I said, 'After getting to know you better, I really feel you would prefer a man for this job. If you would like I could come back in an hour as a man.' It knocked him out. His face was redder than this candle,' LaRay said, lifting a small candle off the table.

Some like it hot.

IMAGE: Fierce at Medusa's – Gay Chicago December 16, 1993

1990

Headline on front cover of this week's Windy City Times:

"U.S. Census Will Count Gay Couples. Community Urged to Check 'Unmarried Partner' box."

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IMAGE: Lady Bug – Windy City Times October 17, 1985

In Jon-Henri Damski's column "Word-Banger at Dinner, Funeral, Boogie, and Birthday Party."

"The third annual IMPACT dinner raised our community to a new and higher plateau of clout. Nearly 600 people paid $125 to rub shoulders and break chicken legs with 50 politicians seeking our support.

" ...The most memorable and charming scene of the evening was Alderman Bernie Hansen's puckish prank: he went over to Tom Tunney's table and gave Tom a kiss on the cheek. Too bad no one got a picture of that."

IMAGE: Dandy's – Gay Life October 24, 1985

2004

In the bars and clubs, Fridays it's the Winter party at Vortex, 3458 N. Halsted; Saturday night it's Catherine Smitko and Lex McCauley at Gentry, 3320 N. Halsted; come celebrate the Jive Records release of "Schizophrenic," the long-awaited debut solo album by JC Chasez, at Spin, Belmont and Halsted; Leap Year Party and Best Rear Contest with psychic readings by Crystal at Hide A Way, 7301 W. Roosevelt, Forest Park; there's an Oscar party at the Lucky Horseshoe Lounge, 3169 N. Halsted; make a truly special event of it at "The Envelope Please" Party at Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted; the AIDS Foundation of Chicago AIDS Bike Ride Kick-Off party with Amy Armstrong and Freddy Allen at @mosphere, 5355 N. Clark.

Homework

Is Cathering Smitko still around?

Who remembers when @mosphere opened?

Did you go to Club Victoria?

Gay Chicago Photo Rewind

Gay Chicago January 4, 1979 celebrates with Eddie Dugan

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.