Chasg 'Phantoms of the Past': 8 Gay and Lbian Bar Archivists on Prervg LGBTQ+ Nightlife History | VePair

Contents:

• CHIGO GAY BARS AND CLUBS
• CHASG ‘PHANTOMS OF THE PAST’: 8 GAY AND LBIAN BAR ARCHIVISTS ON PRERVG LGBTQ+ NIGHTLIFE HISTORY
• A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
• “I THK WE HAVE A GAY BAR”

CHIGO GAY BARS AND CLUBS

There’s a reason so many young queer people flock to Chigo and never leave: the cy’s gay scene is fun as hell. Boystown, of urse, is the cy’s official gayborhood, wh LGBTQ-iendly bars, rtrant, and clubs occupyg nearly every storeont on Northalsted. But Chigo’s queer muny exists far outsi the Lakeview enclave—and so do the great gay bars.

Whether they clu drag, dancg, or are div—or a ltle b of all three—Chigo’s bt gay bars have a ltle somethg for everyone. Gay Edgewater rints of all ag ll themselv regulars at this iendly, sual dive bar. This Uptown spot featur a relatively mixed-genr clientele ( the scheme of gay bars).

CHASG ‘PHANTOMS OF THE PAST’: 8 GAY AND LBIAN BAR ARCHIVISTS ON PRERVG LGBTQ+ NIGHTLIFE HISTORY

Wh no distguishg signage outsi, this unmarked dive is much more discreet than s very gay clientele is. Sitrack is generally herald as the kg of Chigo gay bars, and not for no reason: the sprawlg plex featur five different bars year-round. Add another two the summertime, when the upstairs pat—one of Chigo’s bt, gay or straight—is open for bs.

Not only is the Jefey Pub one of the olst gay bars the untry, ’s also the only black-owned LGBTQ bar Chigo. Angela Barn and Renda Riddle, -owners of Nobody’s Darlg, scribe as “a lbian bar, and a gay bar, and a queer bar, and a trans bar.

”Riddle said other women the queer muny share her personal experience of feelg unfortable spac that are gay cis male-domated, so was important Nobody’s Darlg, which opened late May, was tentnal about welg those who have felt exclud and unsafe. Wh the creatn of the ter, gay and lbian bars that served as plac to nnect wh other members of the muny were replaced by virtual socializg onle, she said.

A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

“Back the day, (lbian bars uld survive) bee that was the only place you uld meet gay women and get to know them or date them or whatever. [ Eatg out stg more as Chigo rtrants emerge om the panmic — and price hik may not slow down anytime soon]Gay bars some of their earlit days were where activists me together to mobilize, om fightg for marriage equaly more recent years to Summ’s “Gay $” project that bated AIDS discrimatn by markg paper money to monstrate the purchasg power of the queer muny.

Before bars were safe plac for the LGBTQ muny, private hom were the only optn for those worried they uld lose their jobs or their fai if they were ught a gay bar. Gay cis male-foced promoters and bs should take more of an active role cludg everyone, she said.

“I THK WE HAVE A GAY BAR”

”That kd of change tak time, Meadows said, and there isn’t a mol that guarante succs, bee many lbian bars tered to a specific muny that was crisis and need to be served after beg exclud om the gay muny, which stilled a sense of protectivens and hop the future of bars general would be everyone feelg wele wherever they go — but there’s still a long way to go before that’s a realy. “There are so many homophobic people out there, ” Summ said. Our gay and lbian bars have a ltle b of somethg for everyone, wh late-night loung, dance clubs, burlque and drag shows, and long-standg neighborhood waterg hol almost every rner of the cy.

And each wh their own unique history and out some of the bt gay bars and clubs to experience Chigo’s LGBTQ+ nightlife scene. Jeffery PubOne of the cy’s olst gay bars, Jeffery Pub is a neighborhood stutn.