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

1979

Events in the clubs and bars this week include Little Jim's sponsoring a two-day auction to benefit the Frank M. Rodde III Memorial Building Fund for a community center for gay men and women; Our Way, 706 Stateline Ave. (Calumet City), holds a WinterFest with the crowning of Miss Snow Queen; Felicia and the cast of the Baton Show Lounge, 436 N. Clark St., appear on the Phil Donahue Show; there's a Mardi Gras Party with free buffet and punch at the Virgo Out, 2546 N. Clark St.; El Dorado, the bar with a Latin touch at 2683 N. Halsted, celebrates Mardi Gras with a costume contest; and Another Way To Love, the off-Broadway hit that made sexual fantasies respectable, is staged at Carol's Speakeasy, 1355 N. Wells.

(Image: Ad from Gay Life, Feb. 16, 1984 )

Auditions for two one-act plays by Edward Albee, to be produced by the gay Shepherd Players, are held at the Wellington Avenue Church of Christ, 615 W. Wellington.

Canadian female impersonator and actor, Craig Russell, performs at Park West. Tickets are $9.50. Two years earlier he starred in the movie Outrageous.

(Image: The Closet ad from Gay Chicago, Feb. 16, 1984 )

1984

The Greater Chicago Gay and Lesbian Democratic Club picks Alan Cranston for president, Philip Rock for U.S. Senator, and Lawrence Bloom for Cook County State's Attorney in its February 28, 1984 endorsement session.

Bestselling gay books at Unabridged Bookstore, 3251 N. Broadway, are:

SOFTCOVER: 1) Cum by Boyd McDonald (Gay Sunshine $12); 2) The Movie Lover by Richard Friedel (Alyson $6.95); 3) Sex Behind Bars by Robert N. Boyd (Gay Sunshine $10); 4) Streetboy Dreams by Kevin Esser (Sea Horse Press $7.95); 5) Black Men/White Men ed. by Michael J. Smith (Gay Sunshine $8.95).

(Image: Ad from Gay Life, March 1, 1984 )

HARDCOVER: 1) Male Couples: How Relationships Develop by Andrew McWhirter and Andrew Mattison (Prentice-Hall $16.95); 2) Bruce Webber: Photographs by Bruce Webber (Twelvetrees Press $50); 3) Nights in Aruba by Andrew Holleran (William Morrow $12.95); 4) Family of Max Desir by Robert Ferro (E.P. Dutton $13.95); 5) As If After Sex by Joseph Torchia (Holt, Rinehart & Winston $13.95)

Marge Summit and Pat turn a part of His ‘n' Hers bar, 944 W. Addison, into a Chocolate Pudding Wrestling Ring in a benefit to raise funds for the research and cure of AIDS. The event is called "Wrestle AIDS to the Ground."

1998

The Chicago Commission on Human Relations' Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues presents "The Gender Spectrum: Expanding the Rainbow," an interactive workshop on unifying the Transgendered and LesBiGay Community, at the Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State St. The event includes a play "Sweet Jane," written and directed by Lynnell Stephanie Long, panel discussions and breakout sessions.

(Image: Ad from Gay Chicago, Feb. 19, 1998 )

The cast and crew of Beauty and the Beast present The Breaking Spell, a cabaret benefit and auction for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Season of Concern, at the Mercury Theatre, 3745 N. Southport. Admission is $25.

The Committee for African-American and Black Archives at the Gerber/Hart Library celebrates Black History Month at the DuSable Museum, 740 E. 56th Place.

An event listed in the Calendar of Outlines reads: "GIRLS: Goddesses in Real Life Sizes member facilitated support group for fat lesbians (bi women welcome). Mondays 7:30-9:30 p.m.; $2 at Ebenezar Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster."

The Lesbian Avengers host a Town Meeting at Horizons Community Services, 961 W. Montana, to discuss the lack of diversity/representation of minorities at the Pride Parade.

In Evanston, State Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who is running to succeed retiring Rep. Sidney Yates (D-9th) is endorsed by the North Shore Gay and Lesbian Association. Her opponents are 27-year State Sen. and Ward Committeeman Howard Carroll and 32-year-old multimillionaire J.B. Pritzker.

Events in the bars and clubs this week include a Mr. Oz Contest at the Ultimate Oz, 7301 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park. Dance floor is open with DJ Dan Badea; Spin, at Halsted and Belmont, says "It's a gay, gay, gay, gay world so join us at 8:30 p.m. for a special new episode of ‘Ellen'; Chicago Eagle, 5015 N. Clark St., holds a Lumberjack Party, you can check your flannel shirt at the door; and GET OUT! The Biggest, Hardest, Hottest NO BOXER WET BOXER CONTEST! is hosted by Matthew at Roscoe's, 3354-56 N. Halsted.

(Image: Ad for Chicago Eagle from Gay Chicago, Feb. 26, 1998 )

Thanks go to publishers Michael Bergeron for Chicago Gay Crusader, Ralph Gernhardt for Gay Chicago, Grant Ford and Chuck Renslow for Gay Life 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 the upcoming book Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall published by the University of Wisconsin Press.