March 2, 2017
1986
It's the Midwest premiere of "The Other Side of Aspen II" at the Bijou, 1349 N. Wells. It stars Steven Henson, Scott O'Hara, Giorgio Canali, Kurt Marshall, Chris Lance and many others.
"Once these guys come in off the slopes, they warm each other up with some truly sizzling sex. Falcon Studios continues their tradition of extraordinary handsome men in extremely hot sex scenes."
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IMAGE: Legacy 21 – Gay Chicago November 23, 1995
IMAGE: Hot Back Rooms at Second Story – Gay Chicago February 28, 1980
IMAGE: Windy City Black Pride – Nightlines May 31, 2001
An article in Windy City Times begins:
"Early Saturday morning, a fire swept through Touche, a long-established leather bar on Lincoln Avenue, destroying the bar and bringing to an end an era for Chicago's leather community.
"According to preliminary reports, the extra-alarm fire began between 5:00 and 5:30 on Saturday morning, probably starting in a rear first-floor storage area containing electrical circuitry and the furnace.
"'The bar is a complete loss,' said owner Chuck Rodocker. 'The rear of the bar and the roof are destroyed, and there was extensive damage to the remainder.' Nothing of significant value could be saved, he said.
"Touché has been a gay bar since 1976 and was scheduled to celebrate its 14th anniversary later this month. It was bought by Rodocker in the fall of 1977 and under his ownership became one of the triumvirate of bars which served the city's vigorous leather community-the Gold Coast, Redoubt, and Touche.
"With the closing of the Redoubt and the Gold Coast after both made unsatisfactory attempts to relocate away from the River North area, Touche remained Chicago's one outpost of leather in the city."
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Circle Theatre presents "What Ever Happened to B.B. Jane?" at the Synergy Center, 1753 N. Damen.
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Poetry reading and book signing of "Diamonds Are a Dykes Best Friend" at People Like Us Bookstore, 3321 N. Clark.
2009
An article by Amy Wooten and Matt Simonette in the Chicago Free Press begins:
"On Friday evening, Scarlet Bar co-owner Paul Cannela stood inside the wreckage of his Halsted Street bar before workers boarded up the fire-damaged building.
"'I'm still in shock,' Cannela said, looking around at the smoky and soaked space in disbelief.
"Earlier that morning, the three-story building at 3320 N. Halsted St. that housed the relatively new bar (it just celebrated its one-year anniversary in December) went up in an extra-alarm blaze that, at one point, over 100 firefighters tackled at once."
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IMAGE: Cover of Nightspots – December 5, 2007
Some of the headlines in this week's Chicago Free Press are: "GLBT allies win 5th District primary." ..."Judge: Cook County Jail strip searches violated rights." ...and ..."Students to counter-protest Phelps."
Homework
Does anyone remember Hev'in?
Are Sue Fink and Jackqueline Stander still around?
Who remembers Bulldog Road?
Gay Chicago Photo Rewind
Thanks go to publishers Michael Bergeron for Chicago Gay Crusader, Ralph and Craig Gernhardt for Gay Chicago, Grant Ford and Chuck Renslow for Gay Life, Malone Sizelove for Babble/Gab, David Costanza and others for Chicago Free Press, Jeff McCourt for Windy City Times, Stacy Bridges and Mark Nagel for GRAB, and Tracy Baim for all the publications at the Windy City Media Group, which aided the above research. St. Sukie de la Croix is an internationally published reporter, playwright, photographer and historian. He is also the author of Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall published by the University of Wisconsin Press.