The city licensing committee hearing for the liquor license related to Michelle Fire's Big Chicks was delayed again, until March, and now an openly gay pol is coming to the rescue of the eclectic club.
State Rep. Larry McKeon, who spoke passionately in favor of the bar at a rally several weeks ago, is backing a change in the state law covering locations of bars in relation to religious establishments and schools.
Fire is fighting to retain her liquor license for Big Chick's, 5024 N. Sheridan, and trying to get one for Tweet, adjacent to Chicks. When she applied for the Tweet license, it was discovered that a synagogue had shared an alley with the bar for years—a proximity that violates current state law.
McKeon said his amendment to the state's lawbooks would permit Fire to obtain liquor licenses for Tweet and keep its permit at Big Chicks. It would also apply to any other longstanding bars whose walls were within 100 feet across a shared alleyway from a school or house of worship, so long as their primary entrances opened onto opposite blocks.
More than 6,000 people have signed letters of support for Big Chick's and Michelle Fire. Hundreds attended her first court hearing.