
|
NIGHTSPOTS
|
|
|
BEING CONTINUED: Wave
by AK Miller
2012-05-23
|
|
This article shared 1089 times since Wed May 23, 2012
|
|
Derek and Dakota spent most of the mid '80s at the Belmont Rocks. In the summer anyway. They would run from their tiny gay-ghetto studio on Buckingham with boom box in hand and flip-flop their way to the lakeshore with their tiny, neon Speedos glowing in the midmorning sun. When they reached the large, stone slabs they would be greeted by queens, beefy men and boys. Queers quacking like ducks with their feet hanging over the sides of the stones, toes nowhere near touching the water four feet below. Derek always spread his towel out on the grass while Dakota preferred the feel of the smooth rock under his skin. For years this was their daily summer ritual. Laughing, relaxing and dancing until the afternoon sun was at his hottest and they went home to nap with their sun-kissed bodies stuck against each other in their cool, small bed. They rose to go to work at Carol's Speakeasy, collecting empty glasses and restocking beer fridges for the bartenders. They never stuck around after the bar closed, but hurried home to get a disco nap in before their morning ritual began again. Things changed around 1987. Friends that they were used to seeing daily went missing. Sickness swept though their community erasing much of the laughter. Then, to completely remove what little solace the rocks provided, the police began harassing the gays and disrupting their peace. Hating gay people was becoming fashionable then and abuse had become commonplace with tickets being written for loitering, public indecency and solicitation. Derek and Dakota didn't give up on the rocks though. They still made their way to the lake daily, even when Dakota was almost too sick to walk. It took them twice the time to get there, but they made it. When Dakota died, Derek could not bring himself to go there anymore. The hard stones lined up and lurking over the unreachable water made him sad. Each stone uncovered represented another man gone. One Sunday he began walking north along the lake path and ended up at its end at Hollywood Avenue. There he saw stretches of newly cleaned beachfront occupied mostly by Latvian immigrants and small Mexican children. At the end of the beach was a giant tree shading the stairs that led down to the pier. He sat under it and decided then that the boys deserved a beach of their own. On his way home he went to the uptown Goodwill store and bought bed sheets the colors of the gay flag. The next morning he walked to Edgewater Beach, which he unofficially renamed Hollywood Beach, and hung the sheets from the braches of the tree, claiming it as the new home for the gays and a memorial for the ones not present. It didn't take long before the men started joining Derek. First up by the tree, then slowly taking over the beach completely from grass to shore. You could find Derek there every day playing his cassette tapes and flying one of what became a very large collection of Pride flags. He watched as everyone laughed, relaxed, danced and now splashed about in summertime celebration, despite of what the world was throwing at them. In 1994, when he knew that he was too weak from CMV and medicine to make it there any longer, he worried that when he was gone, this may be lost too. He feared that without anyone there to daily claim stake, the gays would again be forced from their sun-baked sanctuary. But what he had done was permanent. He had no reason to worry. |
 |
|
 |
This article shared 1089 times since Wed May 23, 2012
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
| 
|  | "A Secret I Can't Tell" book updated and reissued 2022-12-07 -- From a press release - NEW YORK, NY — NOVEMBER 14, 2022 — In 2020 the United States Supreme Court ruled that 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay, lesbian, and transgender employees from discrimination based on sex. But now Florida's "Don't say gay" ...
| 
|  | Bulls, Blackhawks lose; Lightfoot-Fire FC link 2022-12-01 - The Chicago Bulls (9-12) fell to the Phoenix Suns (15-6) 132-113 in Arizona on Nov. 30, dropping the Bulls to 12th in the Eastern Conference. Phoenix now leads the Western Conference. Devin Booker scored 51 for ...
| 
|  | Book censorship focus of public comments at Lincolnwood Public Library Board of Trustees meeting 2022-11-30 - During the closed door portion of the regularly scheduled Lincolnwood Public Library Board of Trustees meeting Nov. 28 at Lincolnwood Village Hall, Library Defense members hosted a Freadom Book Swap outside of the building. Library Defense ...
| 
|  | VIEWPOINT What are the most banned books: take a guess 2022-11-18 - The Latin word for book is liber. It is also the Latin word for "free," as in not a slave but a person who enjoys freedom (liberty). The word library means a home for books, a place of liberation, a sacred ...
| 
|  | Opinion: What are the most banned books? Take a guess. 2022-11-14 - The Latin word for book is liber. It is also the Latin word for "free," as in not a slave but a person who enjoys freedom (liberty). The word library means a home for books, a place of liberation, a sacred ...
| 
|  | Five Worth Finding: COVID book, 'Wicked' cocktails, 'A Taste of Hope' and more 2022-10-24 - —COVID-19, the LGBTQIA+ Community and Public Policy: As studies emerge to help us understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on every facet of modern life, it is critical that the effect of the pandemic on ...
| 
|  | LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH bell hooks: A voice of love, activism and intersectionality 2022-10-22 - When bell hooks died on Dec. 15, 2021, it was a gut punch. There was no time when bell hooks' extraordinary writing and feminist and lesbian theorizing was not part of the queer community. There was ...
| 
|  | Former Chicago Ald. Helen Shiller hosts book launch and reception 2022-10-20 - Publishing house Haymarket Books presented a book-signing and interview session with longtime LGBTQ+ ally and former Chicago Ald. Helen Shiller on Oct. 17. Shiller was interviewed by noted Chicago Tribune ...
| 
|  | BOOKS Lesbian co-author discusses 'No More Police: A Case for Abolition' 2022-10-18 - "We don't need all the answers to start down the road toward where we want to go: a world where everyone has safety, food, clean water, shelter, education, health, art, beauty, and rest."—No More Police: A ...
| 
|  | Gerber/Hart Library and Archives holds 'Unboxing Queer History LIVE' fall benefit 2022-10-17 - Gerber/Hart Library and Archives (Gerber/Hart) held its fall benefit, "Unboxing Queer History LIVE!," on Oct. 15 at Gerber/Hart to raise funds in support of the library's mission to preserve LGBTQ+ history in Chicago and the Midwest. ...
| 
|  | BOOKS 'Last Call Chicago' release party held at Sidetrack 2022-10-13 - On Oct. 12, co-authors Rick Karlin and St. Sukie de la Croix held a book-release party for their book, Last Call Chicago: A History of 1,001 LGBTQ-Friendly Taverns, Haunts & Hangouts. Last Call Chicago is a ...
| 
|  | OutHistory reveals discovery in LGBTQ+ history: identity of pioneering LGBTQ+ author Jennie June 2022-10-12 -- From a press release - New York, NYOct. 10, 2022In celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month, the website OutHistory announced a groundbreaking discovery: the probable identity of Jennie June, the pioneering LGBTQ+ author who bravely defended ...
| 
|  | LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH San Francisco Public Library digitizes LGBTQ+ archives, including Harvey Milk holdings 2022-10-09 LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH - Shot with black-and-white film, two small children stand outside in a San Francisco public plaza draped in protest signs. One reads, "We're Proud, Not Stigmatized." The other declares, "We Love Our Gay Parents." In the right ...
| 
|  | BOOKS David Sedaris returns to the Raue Center on Nov. 4 2022-10-06 - Best-selling author David Sedaris will return to the Crystal Lake venue the Raue Center on Friday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m. The openly gay humor writer is known for books such as Calypso, Theft By Finding, ...
| 
|  | BOOKS Events related to 'Last Call Chicago' on Oct. 10 and 12 2022-10-03 - Last Call Chicago: A History of 1,001 LGBTQ-Friendly Taverns, Haunts & Hangouts is a historical account of LGBTQ+ venues in the Windy City. The book's authors, Rick Karlin and St. Sukie de la Croix, are journalists ...
| |
|
|
|
|