In 1935 a black gay street hustler andĭoorman, Alfred Finnie, launched a series of drag (transvestite) balls on the South Side. era cabarets, including the Plantation Cafe on East 35th Street and the Pleasure Inn on East 31st. Lesbians and gay men became regular fixtures, as both patrons and entertainers, in
With the arrival of southern black migrants during theĪ lesbian and gay enclave also developed on the city's One such network headed by Henry Gerber, a postal clerk and Bavarian immigrant to Chicago, founded the nation's earliest documented gay rights organization in 1924 the Society for Human Rights published two pamphlets before its members were arrested and the group disbanded. Yet while these public spaces played an important role in the construction of Chicago's lesbian and gay community, private parties and personal networks remained the foundation of gay culture. Gay men also gathered along Michigan Avenue and on Oak Street Beach and mingled with lesbians, hobos, and political radicals in In 1930,Įstimated that there were 35 such venues on the city's Near North Side. The Dill Pickle Club on Tooker Alley hosted group discussions and debates on homosexuality and lesbianism, while the Bally Hoo Cafe on North Halsted featured male and female impersonation acts, as well as a contest for cross-dressed patrons. In the tearooms and speakeasies of this district, lesbians and gay men from throughout the city and the Midwest met and socialized with localĪnd with heterosexuals bent on obtaining a glimpse of gay life.
The lesbian presence in the city was less visible during these years, in part because many working-class lesbians “passed” as men in order to gain access to better-paying jobs ChicagoĬarried occasional sensationalized stories about local “men,” many of them “married,” who had been unmasked as women.īy the 1920s, a visible lesbian and gay enclave was well established in the Near North Side bohemian neighborhood known as Of Chicago noted the presence of “whole groups and colonies of these men who are sex perverts,” many of them working as During the early years of the century, much of this subculture was centered in the Levee, a working-class entertainment andĬatered to gay men and featured female impersonation acts. The anonymous and transient character of these neighborhoods permitted the development of Chicago's lesbian and gay subculture.
This list details Chicago’s top venues, crews, and parties aimed at connecting with queer community, crushing a cocktail (or five), and twisting the night away.As one of the busiest industrial centers and transportation hubs in the United States, Chicago at the beginning of the twentieth century attracted thousands of single women and men with new employment opportunities and nonfamilial living arrangements in the lodging-house districts of the
These organizations are going beyond designing safe spaces for queer Black folks to dance, make out, and meet-they’re creating moments that decenter the white gaze (not to mention white gays), showcasing the artistic talents and sweet joy of Chicago’s Black queer, trans, and gender non-conforming residents and curating welcoming opportunites for folks to get down free from inhibition and fear. Several of Chicago’s queer event collectives are set on partying with a purpose, especially those with Black queers at the helm. Much of that is thanks to the hard work of folks like the Chicago Black Drag Council and countless other queer Black nightlife prose, all backed up by those of us happily partaking in the scene. While Boystown and Andersonville continue to flourish with queer and queer-friendly businesses on every corner, since last year’s uprisings and calls for accountability in Chicago’s gay nightlife scene, things have started to (slowly) change. We have some of the most renowned drag performers, incredible queer nightlife artists of all kinds, and queer neighborhoods teeming with bars and clubs. Chicago has transformed into a true queer destination in recent years, no longer looked at as some podunk midwestern city cast in the shadow of coastal meccas like New York and Los Angeles.