LGBT culture in Chicago

Center on Halsted

Chicago has long had a gay neighborhood. Beginning in the 1920s there was active homosexual nightlife in Towertown, adjacent to the Water Tower. Increasing rents forced gay-friendly establishments steadily northwards, moving through Old Town and Lincoln Park along Clark Street and on to Boys Town. Boys Town presently serves as the best-known Chicago gayborhood, and the center of its LGBT culture.[1] Gentrification has pushed many gay and lesbian people to reside ever further north into Uptown and Edgewater.

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, with organizations such as Chicago Gay Liberation.

The Chicago Gay and Lesbian Democrats was the main LGBT political group of the 1980s. LGBT interest groups and the Democratic Party have facilitated LGBT political involvement in Chicago.[2]

In 1983 Mayor of Chicago candidate Jane Byrne promised to support LGBT issues, so the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Democrats endorsed Byrne. However Harold Washington 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 reelection in 1987 because, during his previous term, he supported LGBT causes and criticized homophobia.[2] 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. It often criticized Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley. It later became a part of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.[3]

Institutions

Media

Newspapers Chicago Gay Crusader (now defunct) and Windy City Times have served LGBT readers. Windy City Radio is the city's only LGBT radio station.[4] Online guide ChicagoPride.com is a news and events website for the Chicago/Midwest LGBT community.

Recreation

References

  1. ↑ Blackwell, Elizabeth Canning (2012). Frommer's Chicago. Frommer's Color Complete (17th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. p. 351. ISBN 9781118162415 – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 Haider-Markel, Donald P. (2002). Gay and Lesbian Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook. Political Participation in America. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 145. ISBN 9781576072561 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ Gould, Deborah B. (2009). Moving Politics: Emotion and ACT UP's Fight Against AIDS. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 43. ISBN 9780226305318 – via Google Books.
  4. 1 2 Savage, Dan & Miller, Terry, eds. (2011). It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living. New York: Penguin Books. n.p. ISBN 9781101513408 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-pride-parade-aftermath-met-20150629-story.html

Further reading

  • Austin, Jill & Brier, Jennifer (2011). Out in Chicago: LGBT History at the Crossroads. Chicago: Chicago History Museum – via Google Books.
  • Baim, Tracy, ed. (2008). Out and Proud in Chicago. Chicago: Agate Publishing. ISBN 9781572846432.
  • de la Croix, Sukie (2012). Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago before Stonewall. UPCC Book Collections on Project MUSE. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 9780299286934. .
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