Adrene "Big Red" Perom, who helped raise tens of thousands of dollars in the fight against AIDS, was reportedly found dead last week in her apartment. No further details were available.
Especially during the early years of the AIDS epidemic, Perom, through her club Big Red's, helped raise funds for AIDS and gay causes.
In 1999, she was inducted as a "Friend of the Community" into Chicago's Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.
Perom's first bar was Big Red's at 642 W. Diversey ( 1977-'82 ) , then Big Red's at 3019 N. Clark St. ( 1982-'84 ) and finally Big Red's at 3729 N. Halsted ( 1984-'92 ) .
Perom raised money in 1978 for the STOP BRIGGS campaign—the Briggs Initiative in California targeted gay teachers. She also raised funds for the Rodde Center and inherited the pie toss fundraiser from GG at the Butterfly.
Several months ago, Outlines reporter Sukie de la Croix interviewed Big Red for his Outlines' Whispers column. Following are excerpts:
"There have been three Big Red's bars. The first one was on Diversey just a few doors west of Clark in the hotel, the second bar was Wellington and Clark across from the Ivanhoe. The last bar was where Dandy's is now [ now Bobby Love's ] . The first bar I opened in 1976 but I turned it gay on Valentine's Day of 1977. I closed my eyes and went to the calender and pointed to a date, and when it turned out to be Valentines Day, I thought, 'my God, it's the day that represents love, what better day could it be?' It had been a gay bar when I bought it, and the straights in this neighborhood ... I was across the street from a pool room, and the people that were coming in there were garbage. I was having the police two or three times a week and then somebody said, 'Why don't you turn it back to what it was?' And I just never thought of it. You don't wake up one morning and say, 'I'm going to have a gay bar.' So I turned it, and it was the best thing I ever did. I've enjoyed being a part of this community for all these years. I had some women, but primarily men coming in, all my bars were primarily men. Some of the women, the old-timers don't like me, but I have a lot of lesbian friends, but the real old-timers, the diesels don't like me."
"That bar, on Clark and Diversey, closed because of landlords; he wanted so much rent I would be working for him. It was impossible. Then when I moved to Clark Street and found that facility, they eventually tore the building down and put in a strip mall. So Halsted was my last bar, and I sold that December 1, 1992."
The Pie Toss ...
"It's a misconception that I invented the Pie Toss. The Pie Toss was started by two girls who had a bar on Wells St., called the Iron Butterfly, that was Leslie and GG. They started the Pie Toss, and then when they sold their bar they willed me the Pie Toss; so I was the bar that followed and had it as a tradition. In the beginning the money went to the Rodde Fund and then after the AIDS crisis came along I changed that, and I started to do it for Chicago House and DirectAID, because I thought those organizations were more important than the Rodde Fund. We were taking care of our boys who were sick. I had it for 16 years. We made a lot of money in one night. One night in about four hours we'd take in as much as $5,000. Now they do it at Sidetrack for the Federation, and they get politicians, the police commander, the fire commander, everybody down there ... times have changed."
Raided ..
"I don't know if you would call it a raid or not. When I first got started in the business ... there was an officer who was ganging up on the gay bars, there was no question about it. He was busting them left and right. I was at home when my bartender called me and said, 'You better get down here right away, the police are here.' I said, 'What happened?' The policeman grabbed the phone ... I can't remember that damn bastard's name ... he said, 'Your bartender solicited my sergeant and we're taking him down. So if you want to keep your bar open, you better get your ass down here.'
"So I got my ass down there and we had five people in the bar ... first I asked the bartender, did you solicit him? And he said, 'Are you nuts, look at him!' The guy said my bartender offered to suck his dick for $50. I said, 'I find that very difficult to believe because I know this guy.' ... 'Well, lady I'm booking him.' I gave the bartender the bail money and said, 'When you're done come back home.'
"Then I asked the five guys who had been sitting in the bar and one said, 'The guy had been running in and out using the phone ... ' they busted two prostitutes on the street the same afternoon, and they were just using my place as a hang out. This guy in the bar said the policeman, who was plainclothes of course, said he would give my bartender $50 dollars to suck his dick. The bartender had said, 'Suck your dick, are you fucking nuts!?'
"All five guys in the bar said the same thing. I think he got so pissed off that he claimed the bartender solicited him. That was the only time I had to go back and forth with the police. Other than that I don't think I've been hassled because it was a gay bar, any more than I would be in any other kind of bar. They come in and check the licenses and stuff, but they do that in every bar."
