Police raids, harassment, mob payoffs, licensing problems—these were everyday realities for gay and lesbian bars in decades past. In New York, the police harassment sparked the Stonewall Riots during the summer of 1969.
But these days, it takes a lot to ignite the masses to mobilize. A few dozen showed up for increased AIDS funding, a few dozen more at a vigil for murdered transgendered people. And then there was the potential closing of Big Chicks bar in Uptown.
The outrage was explosive—thousands of e-mails, hundreds of people at a Nov. 24 rally outside the bar at 5024 N. Sheridan, and a couple hundred more at a hearing Nov. 25 at the city's liquor commission in the basement of Daley Center.
The hearing resulted in another delay for Big Chicks' owner Michelle Fire. A status hearing on the case is now set for Jan. 13—and her bar can stay open during the process.
In the meantime, state Reps. Larry McKeon and Harry Osterman vowed to the crowd gathered Nov. 24 that they will work to change the state law which led to the problem—the location of a bar in relation to a religious building.
Why did this particular case receive the attention of hundreds of protesters and major media coverage? Because Big Chicks, for many, is not just a gay bar. Gay bars for decades have served as de factor community centers, and Big Chicks in particular has been a beacon of light in a chaotic community and an even more chaotic neighborhood. Owner Michelle Fire has sponsored and supported many community causes, from social and sports groups, to AIDS organizations. Much of her work is behind the scenes, helping individuals with AIDS who need money—or hosting their memorial services. Fire inspires a passion few bar owners could, because her bar has been welcoming of so many parts of the gay, lesbian, bi, trans and straight communities.
'Don't Mess with a Big Chick' read flyers for the protest, co-organized by Paul Fairchild and Jim Bennett with just two day's notice. Some supporters drove in from the far west suburbs and Indiana.
'Since the patrons of Stonewall ignited the modern gay-rights movement after standing up to human rights abuses by the [New York Police Department], the GLBT community has used their neighborhood bar as their community center,' Fairchild said. 'Big Chicks [is] an icon for the gay community and Uptown neighborhood. Whether it's discovered to be cumbersome bureaucracy or a gay/lesbian community under siege remains to be seen. What's established is that Big Chicks is a growing, longtime small-business success story in the neighborhood and is incurring an expensive and threatening fight brought on by the City of Chicago.'
'It takes a big chick to know a big chick!' Smith shouted to the crowd. 'You don't repay courage and compassion with a slap in the face and a threat to take away a license. ... She is the most extraordinary, the most good-hearted, the most hard-working businessperson I have ever met. She was the bright star on this street long before.'
Also at the Nov., 24 rally speaking in favor of the bar was Ald. Mary Ann Smith. Ald. Helen Shiller was in the background, but she has also been supportive. Smith's chief of staff, Greg Harris, has been a point person for gathering letters of support. More than a 1,000 letters had been sent to Harris as of Nov. 25, and thousands more signed an online petition. Even the New Yorker magazine sent a letter of support.
'I have been pursuing the beer garden license ever since the City of Chicago shut it down in July of 2002,' Fire told her customers in an e-mail. 'It has been a long and arduous process, but I felt that the patio was an important part of the life of Big Chicks. In that process I needed the approval of the whole community, organizations, aldermen, neighbors. We got all of it. At the same time Tweet the restaurant [also owned by Fire, in the same building] was conceived, assembled and opened in May of 2003. I also applied for a license for Tweet so I could serve drinks in the restaurant. There has been a continuous liquor license and tavern at the Big Chicks site since 1944. ... The City of Chicago has decided to NOT issue the patio or restaurant license and in fact has decided to CLOSE Big Chicks. ... They have all of a sudden decided that Big Chicks doesn't belong there! That it falls under a State law from 1936.'
Greg Harris said there are two Liquor License Control Commission actions involving Big Chicks and Tweet. 'Both actions stem from the application by Tweet for an incidental liquor license to serve drinks along with food. During the license application process, the Police Department determined that the Tweet space was less than 100 feet from a house of worship (the Agudas Achim Synagogue on Kenmore). Under State law, a liquor license cannot be issued when a licensee is closer than 100 feet. This also has caused the License Commission to begin revocation proceedings against Big Chicks,' Harris said.
While Harris believes the license application is what triggered the city response, Fire also thinks a developer is behind this.
Fire was awed at the support she has received in this process, saying she broke down crying when she read some of the e-mails. She was glowing at both the protest Nov. 24 and the city hearing the next day, looking out over the faces of her long-time customers, beaming with the pride of a den mother. 'Thank you, I love you, we are here in love of our city, in love of our neighborhood, in love of Big Chicks,' she told the crowd gathered in the cold Nov. 24 night, and as she closed, one of her many sponsored sports teams handed her their winning trophy. She can only hope and work hard to make sure it will be displayed right next to a valid liquor license.
Letters to: Winston Mardis, Liquor License Control Commission, 65 W. Washington, CL95, Chicago IL 60602. Fax letters to Greg Harris at (312) 744-0804.
Also, there is an online petition at: www.petitiononline.com/JRamone/petition.html .
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