Man's Country, Chigo's olst gay bathhoe, closg after 44 years

Contents:

• GAY BATHHO WERE BARELY SURVIVG. AND THEN ME COVID-19.
• GAY NIGHTLIFE BOYSTOWN, CHIGO: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE
• MAN'S COUNTRY, CHIGO'S OLST GAY BATHHOE, CLOSG AFTER 44 YEARS
• GAY USA
• GAY BATHHOE EROS TO OPEN S NEW TENRLO LOTN FOR PRI WEEKEND
• OBAMA AND EMANUEL: MEMBERS OF SAME GAY BATH HOE CLUB CHIGO
• CHIGO GAY MAP

GAY BATHHO WERE BARELY SURVIVG. AND THEN ME COVID-19.

EtienneChigo lost a piece of gay history 2018, when Man's Country, the cy's olst bathhoe, closed s doors after 44 years. Author and historian Owen Keehnen said the loss of Man's Country was "a gay versn of seeg the hoe you grew up torn down. To the untraed eye, gay bathho like Steamworks are mere ns of iquy, where taps on the bathroom floor, a lgerg glance, or a door ajar says much more than you’d expect; but to the iated and the experienced, they are ed that, but also so much more.

Supreme Court cisn strikg down homophobic anti-sodomy laws have certaly ma safer and actually legal to seek out same-sex hookups. But even still, bathho have historilly provid a certa amount of safety and ease to the gay male muny that n’t be nied. Like many explicly queer spac, bathho were equently the target of homophobic vice raids the 1960s and 70s.

GAY NIGHTLIFE BOYSTOWN, CHIGO: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE

While gay sex was an obv and signifint part of bathho, the greater nversatn about them has largely ignored the civic good also unrtaken at the spac. Marks Baths New York Cy and the League of Women Voters held a registratn drive at the now-shuttered gay bathhoe.

Emjay Rawls, who worked at Steamworks om November 2015 to October 2018 and lls the bt job she’s ever had, says that the bathhoe often sponsors events the muny at popular gay bars Boystown, cludg Hydrate, Rose’s Tavern, and Sitrack.

Lol gay historian Owen Keehnen, who -wrote wh Rear publisher Tracy Baim a bgraphy of Chuck Renslow, says Man’s Country at one pot boasted a leather shop and a shop sellg wtern wear, alongsi s gym, whirlpool, glory hol, and mic hall. In an say on his webse, “Brotherhood of the Whe Towel, ” Keehnen also scribed how Man’s Country brought popular performers wh a gay cult followg, cludg Boy Gee, the Village People, and Dive. But spe the historic good the spac have done, for some gay people like Michael Gifford, who loaned a salvaged Man’s Country glory hole to the Leather Archiv & Mm June 2019, bathho are some ways a microsm of some of the most ser problems facg the muny, namely chemsex—or sex unr the fluence of dgs—and blurred l of nsent.

MAN'S COUNTRY, CHIGO'S OLST GAY BATHHOE, CLOSG AFTER 44 YEARS

Gay bathho: Sex and socializg As the public bathho had almost pletely disappeared, a different kd of bathhoe had bee central to Chigo’s gay male muny. This opened the door for openly gay bathho to set up shop for the first time, although gay men had already been equentg some bathho for several s. In The Leatherman: The Legend of Chuck Renslow, historian and journalist Tracy Baim intifi three bathho popular wh gay men Chigo the 1950s.

Chigo gay pneer Chuck Renslow opened “Steve’s Health Club, ” his first gay bathhoe, shortly after the repeal of the sodomy laws, but acrdg to Baim, tolerant police forced to close a few months later. Now the cy’s longt-nng gay bathhoe, Man’s Country is a sprawlg pound wh two three-story buildgs filled wh private rooms, fetish areas, dance floors, a wet room, and a locker room. Ehemann is bullish about the future of gay bathho Chigo as a bs — but mostly as sex and dance clubs; he says the muny’s sire for social and civic space now liv on LGBT anizatns like the Center on Halsted.

GAY USA

Private bathho: Sweat and relaxatn Chigo’s public bathho are closed, and s gay bathho are far ls popular than they once were, but private Rsian- or Korean-style bathho that foc on relaxatn are boomg. Whether was a social gatherg the gay muny when you didn’t have a lot of optns … was jt fillg a need each of the muni. Wh a rich history of LGBT activism and a flourishg muny, Chigo offers one of the bt gay nightlife scen the untry, particularly Boystown.

It's here where you'll fd the hight ncentratn of gay-iendly bars and clubs, where everyone is wele to be themselv and take pri who they are and who they love. Sitrack: This immensely popular gay vio bar is a by multi-level bar that appeals to gay men and lbians of all ag, although do tend to lean towards the preppier si. Rose's Tavern: One of the great legends of gay Chigo nightlife, this food-servg bar has remaed fun, relevant, and by sce opened 1987.

GAY BATHHOE EROS TO OPEN S NEW TENRLO LOTN FOR PRI WEEKEND

Berl: A iendly dance club on the by Belmont Avenue, Berl has been a gay nightlife mastay Chigo for many years, s succs due largely to s e-one-e-all vibe. K Kat Lounge and Supper Club: One of Lakeview's swankier mixed gay-straight loung and eateri, K Kat is a retro-hip hangout. All the gay bars, rtrants, and clubs will have somethg special planned durg this month and the fect rabow-spir spreads across Chigo.

The bt place to enjoy the para is Boystown, where the energy level will be at s gayt, proust, and most fun.

OBAMA AND EMANUEL: MEMBERS OF SAME GAY BATH HOE CLUB CHIGO

Man’s Country, the gay bathhoe Uptown, is closg, ppg 44 years of bs wh a 13-hour party that will beg New Year’s Eve and extend to the morng private club has been open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 364 days a year, closg only on Christmas Eve, acrdg to owner Ron Ehemann. Ehemann said much of the plex will be molished to make way for ndomiums a new buildg to be lled The Renslow, a reference to Chuck Renslow, the LGBTQ bsman and gay rights pneer who started the bathhoe a former aternal lodge.

)To Owen Keehnen, a Chigo thor and historian, the loss of Man’s Country is “a gay versn of seeg the hoe you grew up torn down.

CHIGO GAY MAP

”When Man’s Country opened 1973, the tim were rapidly changg for the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer or qutng muny Chigo and natnwi.