OPALGA | Oak Park Area Lbian & Gay Associatn

Contents:

•  ILLOIS LBIAN AND GAY BARS, RTRANTS, LODGG, PRI EVENT, BS MAPS
• GAY BAR THRIV SUBURB
• CAN LOL GAY BARS SURVIVE? SHOULD THEY?
• OAK PARK GAY BAR
• FORMER OWNER OF OAK PARK GAY CLUB CHARGED WH ARSON
• OWNER ADMS SETTG FIRE TO GAY NIGHTCLUB OAK PARK
• GAY AND GROWG FORT PARK
• PERMANENT RERD: 30 YEARS OF OAK PARK’S GAY AND LBIAN HISTORY
• THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985
• OAKS PARK GAY SKATE IS ON A ROLL
• GAY BARS SAN ANTON

 ILLOIS LBIAN AND GAY BARS, RTRANTS, LODGG, PRI EVENT, BS MAPS

Back when owner Mike Zych first started at the Nutbh Cy Lims, he kept a Louisville Slugger unr the bar to chase off punks who threatened his gay, a group of teens showed up yellg slurs and menacg ctomers the parkg lot of the Fort Park tavern. Zych, a Vietnam veteran and South Sir, says he persuad them to move along by smashg the headlights of their statn wagon wh his week the Nutbh celebrat s 30th anniversary--and a history that cis wh sweepg chang the way gays are perceived, both the natn at large and the suburbs where homosexuals long lived closeted liv and had few public plac to socialize. "Don't fet, back the early years, gay people didn't have no place to go, " said Zych, a no-nonsense saloonkeeper a whe shirt and black vt.

"Dpe the asslts, the Nutbh beme a rare haven the wtern suburbs where an openly gay uple uld sip a beer whout worryg some bully across the bar might pick a fight or lob a verbal stk bomb to their bar has s bawdy si: It sometim hosts "leather nights" and strippers, and s newsletter ntas a photo of the backsi of a man droppg his pants.

GAY BAR THRIV SUBURB

"Wayne Brekh, a Universy of Missouri-Columbia soclogist who has studied suburban gays, said the suatn has changed radilly recent years. Once was rare to fd gay bars outsi urban centers. Now such tablishments are more monplace, though they tend to be more generic--like the Nutbh--and ls foced on a particular theme or, suburban gays live more openly than they once did as stigmas wane, said Brekh, the thor of "Peacks, Chameleons, Centrs: Gay Suburbia and the Grammar of Social Inty.

"Twenty-five years ago, gay bars tend to last ltle more than four years, facg prsure om police and other thori, said Art Johnston, an owner of Sitrack, which opened on North Halsted Street 1982. Where such bars have succeed, they have tend to be surround by a large gay and lbian clientele, as on North Halsted, which has bee "the Ma Street of gay Chigo, " Johnston said.

Perhaps bee of s ee-livg speakeasy roots, the tavern veloped a reputatn as a gay-iendly place s before the Nutbh opened 1976. In 1984, the Tribune stated that had been known as a gay bar sce Nutbh once drew gays om downtown Chigo search of anonymy, Matulnis said.

CAN LOL GAY BARS SURVIVE? SHOULD THEY?

Regular Chuck Plimmer, who grew up Oak Park, says the Nutbh was the first gay bar he ever vised. "Any time you have a gay bar, you're gog to have that, " Cody said. Many gays and lbians bee tranged om their fai when they e out.

OAK PARK GAY BAR

Oak Park Gay go-go bars and clubs by distance.

Oak Park go-go Gay Bars and Clubs om ClubFly. ClubFly provis a gay bar, club, nightlife, and GLBT center mapper for Oak Park, Illois and the rt of the US filtered by go-go Oak Park gay bars and clubs are mapped the gayborhood wh an overview, tags, ntact tails, webse, social media lks, trans/walkg directns, and drivg directns. Michael Jimenez says gay bars are an important part of the culture and hop they do not disappear as gays and lbians achieve more and more acceptance.

Wh the dt still settlg after the forced closure of Fort Park’s last gay bar, The Hiaway, 7301 W.

FORMER OWNER OF OAK PARK GAY CLUB CHARGED WH ARSON

April, and light of the earlier mise of The Nutbh, Fort Park, and the fiery (as arson) close of Oak Park’s Velvet Rope, bartenr Mike Jimenez isn’t ready to give up the ghost former Fort Park rint now liv Berwyn and he is lookg for a lol rurrectn of the gay bar scene the near wt suburbs. Until then, there is still the proverbial last gay bar standg and that’s Antron’s Bar and Grill, 6319 W. 2007 Entreprenr magaze put gay bars on s list of bs facg extctn the next 10 years, addg “only the very bt of them will survive, the others won’t.

OWNER ADMS SETTG FIRE TO GAY NIGHTCLUB OAK PARK

“A big reason many of the lol gay bars are gone is that they did not keep up wh the tim to ntue drawg people , ” says Jimenez, who has bartend at the two former gay bars Fort Park, and Cell Block Chigo.

But, jt openg up a dive and llg a gay bar is not reason enough for people to e. There have been a lot of gay bars that have opened and closed the suburbs.

”David Monterosso, 54, a former Hiaway patron, says sce s closg, he and his gay iends have been enjoyg Wednday night Karaoke at Carole’s, 7307 Roosevelt Rd. Fort Park, and patronizg Poor Phil’s Oak Park for their Friday night get-togethers to watch sports, or relax on the so, he would prefer gog to a gay bar to meet new iends. “I thk there is a lot of tth to the realy that gay upl and gay people no longer feel that they exclively need to patronize gay bars, but the Hiaway will be somewhat missed, ” says Charlie Yglg, Yglg, a nurse practner says is that he often would gather at the bar to unwd after work wh straight female workers.

GAY AND GROWG FORT PARK

He acknowledg that among most gay people, cludg himself, there is still an ternalized fear and mistst toward others regardg how a gay person may be perceived public, pecially if a uple choos to hold hands, or publicly display affectn. “I would not be disappoted to see a new gay bar open the Hiaway’s space, ” says Yglg, who recently legally “re-married” his long-time partner June. ”Yet, what Jimenez and Monterosso are hopg is that a new gay bar will emerge beyond the mors that are circulatg now.

“I thk there is a huge need for a gay bar out here, for a sense of muny [bee] thgs bee more open, we are startg to lose a part of our inty [cludg] the remembrance of how we got here.

For me, the gay bar is part of all that, so I don’t thk is dyg, but evolutn, and between Berwyn, Oak Park and Fort Park, there is a large populatn of dividuals who would love to see one open aga.

PERMANENT RERD: 30 YEARS OF OAK PARK’S GAY AND LBIAN HISTORY

Oak Park Gay bars and clubs by distance. Oak Park Gay Bars and Clubs om ClubFly.

ClubFly provis a gay bar, club, nightlife, and GLBT center mapper for Oak Park, California and the rt of the US. Oak Park gay bars and clubs are mapped the gayborhood wh an overview, tags, ntact tails, webse, social media lks, trans/walkg directns, and drivg directns.

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

to add Oak Park Gay Bar map to your webse;. Reviews, get directns and rmatn Oak Park Gay Bar. Oak Park Gay Bar addrs, phone, state, cy, zip .

On this page you n fd pani siar to Oak Park Gay Bar. On this webse you n share your ments and experienc about Oak Park Gay Bar wh other people.

The former owner of a gay nightclub stroyed by a fire Oak Park last year has reportedly been charged wh arson and surance d, Oak Park police said Saturday. OPALGA - Oak Park Area Lbian and Gay Associatn. (WLS) -- A bar owner admted he set his gay nightclub on fire Oak Elltt plead guilty to arson and surance d for the fire at The Velvet Rope Ultra Lounge 2012.

OAKS PARK GAY SKATE IS ON A ROLL

Prosecutors said Elltt doed the bar alhol, wrote gay slurs on the wall, then l on was sentenced to two years' probatn and has to pay back $107, 000 to two surance pani. Oak Park is number one clared lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) hoeholds, wh 356 a town of 24, 519 hoeholds (15.

Neighborhoods Chigo, such as Boystown or Anrsonville, have a “gay-ncentratn” higher than Oak Park, but the general populatn lowers Chigo’s percentage down to 10.

GAY BARS SAN ANTON

In 2000, the top five LGBT-nse muni, orr, were Oak Park, Evanston, Chigo, Fort Park and Park is a town that for a while had not one, but two gay bars, the now-funct Nutbh and The Hiaway. A short-lived gay bar Berwyn closed last hog bargas are what attract many gay upl, they Snyr and his partner Bob Schubert have owned a hoe Fort Park for 20 years. “Oak Park was even known as gay-iendly back the 1970s when I first lived there, ” Snyr Rb of the Oak Park Gay and Lbian Associatn (OPALGA) said he didn’t know when Oak Park got the reputatn for beg LGBT-iendly.