Chicago has long had a gay neighborhood. Beginning in the 1920s there was active homosexual nightlife in

Towertown The Old Chicago Water Tower District is a historic district along the Magnificent Mile shopping district in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. The district is located on both sides of North Michigan Avenue between Eas ...

, adjacent to the

Water Tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

. Increasing rents forced gay-friendly establishments steadily northwards, moving through

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

and

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

along Clark Street and on to Boys Town. Boys Town presently serves as the best-known Chicago

gayborhood A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establis ...

, and the center of its LGBT culture.

Gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

has pushed many gay and lesbian people to reside ever further north into Uptown, Edgewater and

Rogers Park Rogers Park is the first of Chicago's 77 community areas. Located from the Loop, it is on the city's far north side on the shore of Lake Michigan. The neighborhood is commonly known for its cultural diversity, lush green public spaces, early ...

Politics

In 1961 Illinois was the first state to repeal its sodomy law. Effective LGBT political involvement began in the 1960s alongside the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

, with organizations such as Chicago

Gay Liberation The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoffman, 2007, pp.xi-xiii. ...

. In 1965, Mattachine Midwest was founded as a gay rights organization following the

Fun Lounge police raid The Fun Lounge police raid was a 1964 police raid that targeted Louie's Fun Lounge, a gay bar near Chicago, Illinois, United States. The raid led to the arrest of over 100 individuals and is considered a notable moment in the LGBT history of ...

the previous year. The Chicago Gay and Lesbian Democrats was the main LGBT political group of the 1980s. LGBT interest groups and the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

have facilitated LGBT political involvement in Chicago. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, Chuck Renslow was one of the main pioneers for Chicago's LGBT community through his advocacy for inclusion, and fought alongside the Democratic party to push for non-discrimination amongst LGBT individuals in Chicago. Renslow was also widely known for his long-running leather bar, which was also one of the first opened in Chicago, and his world-renowned provocative male photography that earned him a spot in the Chicago LGBT Hall Of Fame. In 1983,

Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and r ...

candidate Jane Byrne promised to support LGBT issues, so the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Democrats endorsed Byrne. However

Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st Mayor of Chicago. Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city's mayor in April 1983. He served as ma ...

won the Democratic Party primary. At that point the LGBT voters began to support Washington, and they helped him win the general election. LGBT voters supported Washington during his re-election in 1987 because, during his previous term, he supported LGBT causes and criticized homophobia. The following year, in 1988, he signed into law an anti-discrimination ordinance for the city of Chicago. ACT UP/Chicago was an organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

. It often criticized Mayor of Chicago

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...

. It later became a part of the

Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame (formerly Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame) is an institution founded in 1991 to honor persons and entities who have made significant contributions to the quality of life or well-being of the LGBT community in Chic ...

Institutions

Center on Halsted Center on Halsted is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community center in Chicago, Illinois. Kim Fountain serves as Chief Operating Officer. The center is located in the Lakeview neighborhood on the corner of Halsted Street a ...

, LGBT community center * Howard Brown Health Center, LGBT health care center * Windy City

Black Pride Black Pride in the United States is a movement which encourages black people to celebrate African-American culture and embrace their African heritage. In the United States, it was a direct response to white racism especially during the Civi ...

, LGBT-related assistance and events serving African-American communities *

Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame (formerly Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame) is an institution founded in 1991 to honor persons and entities who have made significant contributions to the quality of life or well-being of the LGBT community in Chic ...

, honors LGBT individuals *

National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame The National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame was a hall of fame established in 2013 to honor LGBT and allied personalities, as well as organizations "whose achievements and efforts have enhanced sports and athletics for the gay and lesbian co ...

Leather Archives and Museum The Leather Archives & Museum (LA&M) is a community archives, library, and museum located in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Founded by Chuck Renslow and Tony DeBlase in 1991, its mission is "making leather, kink, BDSM, and fetish acce ...

, collects and exhibits artifacts related to LGBT leather subculture * Gerber/Hart Library, largest circulating library of gay and lesbian titles in the Midwestern United States

Media

Newspapers '' Chicago Gay Crusader'' (now defunct) and ''

Windy City Times ''Windy City Times'' is an LGBT newspaper in Chicago that published its first issue on September 26, 1985. History ''Windy City Times'' was founded in 1985 by Jeff McCourt, Bob Bearden, Drew Badanish and Tracy Baim, who started Sentury Publicati ...

'' have served LGBT readers.

Windy City Radio Windy may refer to: Music * ''Windy'' (album), a 1968 album by Astrud Gilberto * ''Windy'' (EP), a 2021 extended play by Jeon So-yeon * "Windy" (The Association song) (1967) * "Windy" (Scarlet Pleasure song) (2014) People and fictional chara ...

is the city's only LGBT radio station. Online guid
ChicagoPride.com
is a news and events website for the Chicago/Midwest LGBT community.

Recreation

* Pride Arts Center * The

Chicago Pride Parade The Chicago Pride Parade, also colloquially (and formerly) called the Chicago Gay Pride Parade or PRIDE Chicago, is the annual pride parade held on the last Sunday of June in Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is considered the ...

, the annual

gay pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

in June; over a million people now participate in the pride festivities * Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ International Film Festival, founded in 1981 *

Chicago Gay Men's Chorus The Chicago Gay Men's Chorus (CGMC) is a choir, choral organization in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1983 with 55 singers, the chorus currently consists of approximately 150 singing members and over 200 members in total. History The Chorus was ...

, founded in 1983 * Bijou Theater

References

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

''. February 2013.
Chicago Gay History
{{LGBT culture in the United States Demographics of Chicago

Politics

Institutions

See also

Media

Recreation

References

Further reading

External links