Guerilla Gay Bar marks its third event in Chicago
Fri. March 13, 2009 12:00 AM by Ron Matthew Inawat
photo credit // scott feldman
Chicago, IL -
A new "gay night" is sweeping the Chicago area. It takes place away from Boystown, in a straight pub and on an ordinary night usually packed by straight clientele. It's not a gay night - and it's never been advertised or promoted through conventional advertising as a gay night; but yet a majority of the bar's patrons are gay.
Tonight marks the third occurrence of the Chicago phenomenon of the Guerilla Gay Bar.
The first Guerilla Gay Bar (GGB) was assembled in 2000 in San Francisco. The GGB, whose primary goal was to have fun and offer a fresh and creative outlet from the typical "gay scene", took over a straight venue for one night and proved that mobilization of its members could change the entire demographic of the venue.
Since the initial GGB, local Guerilla Gay Bars have opened in multiple cities, including Baltimore, Dallas and Boston.
Meet the "Guerilla Gay Bar – South Loop Chicago"
"GGB SLC began amongst my friends out of a desire to have a gay bar in the South Loop area," stated Andy Czysz, 23, local founder & organizer, "From this we realized that if we all met up at any local bar on the same night, we were numerous enough that it would feel like a gay bar.
Despite the location being away from established gay neighborhoods, fellow founder and organizer Scott Feldman, 27, says that people have commented about the event having "Minibar gays, and wicker park gays and Hydrate gays." "It really meant everyone was just coming together to do something fun, without any scene or label attached. Boystown has more niche bars & clubs, but the GGBs so far have felt more organic and for everyone," he adds.
Last month, nearly 200 gay men crowded into South Loop Irish bar Grace O'Malley's in a seemingly spontaneous assembly. The traditionally straight tavern echoed more like a boystown staple than a downtown pub.
Czysz and Feldman mobilized the Chicago chapter of GGB through word of mouth and by using Facebook, a popular assembly tool for modern flash mobs (a flash mob is a social occurrence where a large group of people perform an unusual action in a short span of time).
"GGB is designed as a fun thing to do," Czysz says. "One of the initial goals of GGB was to have a permanent gay bar in the South Loop area, so ideally we would have a presence more than once a month. Of course while starting out, we don't want to dilute the excitement by pushing it too often. Our goals however are designed to be as open-source as possible and therefore always evolving."
Feldman adds, "GGB SLC events are much more a creation of its members. I think everyone is really friendly and receptive to talking to one another. The event, for everyone who attends, is what you make of it."
Tonight's event takes place at Villains Bar and Grill, the irreverent home of the super-villain inspired libations which include the Skeletor and the Dr. Doom martinis. Since it's the weekend and it's Friday the 13th, grab a beer, chill and be a "little bit bad."
Villains Bar and Grill
649 S. Clark Street
9pm-2am
Additional details, including a link to the GGB facebook website can be found here.
Tonight marks the third occurrence of the Chicago phenomenon of the Guerilla Gay Bar.
The first Guerilla Gay Bar (GGB) was assembled in 2000 in San Francisco. The GGB, whose primary goal was to have fun and offer a fresh and creative outlet from the typical "gay scene", took over a straight venue for one night and proved that mobilization of its members could change the entire demographic of the venue.
Since the initial GGB, local Guerilla Gay Bars have opened in multiple cities, including Baltimore, Dallas and Boston.
Meet the "Guerilla Gay Bar – South Loop Chicago"
"GGB SLC began amongst my friends out of a desire to have a gay bar in the South Loop area," stated Andy Czysz, 23, local founder & organizer, "From this we realized that if we all met up at any local bar on the same night, we were numerous enough that it would feel like a gay bar.
Despite the location being away from established gay neighborhoods, fellow founder and organizer Scott Feldman, 27, says that people have commented about the event having "Minibar gays, and wicker park gays and Hydrate gays." "It really meant everyone was just coming together to do something fun, without any scene or label attached. Boystown has more niche bars & clubs, but the GGBs so far have felt more organic and for everyone," he adds.
Last month, nearly 200 gay men crowded into South Loop Irish bar Grace O'Malley's in a seemingly spontaneous assembly. The traditionally straight tavern echoed more like a boystown staple than a downtown pub.
Czysz and Feldman mobilized the Chicago chapter of GGB through word of mouth and by using Facebook, a popular assembly tool for modern flash mobs (a flash mob is a social occurrence where a large group of people perform an unusual action in a short span of time).
"GGB is designed as a fun thing to do," Czysz says. "One of the initial goals of GGB was to have a permanent gay bar in the South Loop area, so ideally we would have a presence more than once a month. Of course while starting out, we don't want to dilute the excitement by pushing it too often. Our goals however are designed to be as open-source as possible and therefore always evolving."
Feldman adds, "GGB SLC events are much more a creation of its members. I think everyone is really friendly and receptive to talking to one another. The event, for everyone who attends, is what you make of it."
Tonight's event takes place at Villains Bar and Grill, the irreverent home of the super-villain inspired libations which include the Skeletor and the Dr. Doom martinis. Since it's the weekend and it's Friday the 13th, grab a beer, chill and be a "little bit bad."
Villains Bar and Grill
649 S. Clark Street
9pm-2am
Additional details, including a link to the GGB facebook website can be found here.