Drag Queens ...
"The only drag queen I remember on the South Side was ( Wilbur ) Hi-Fi White. When I was 17, I used to DJ at this lounge called the Sugar Shack, and next door was the Burning Spear where he was the emcee. He used to come in from next door and I met him. I'd heard him from years back and he would come in and mess around with the guys, you know, with his loud mouth. He used to go off on people. One night my younger brother came in there with me. He was sitting there and Hi-Fi White had just done a show at the Burning Spear next door and he came in and as he walked past he put is hand on my brother's face. My brother jumped up and I said, 'Don't you say nothing to that man. He will talk about you, our momma and everybody else in our family. So just leave it alone." - Alvin
Sandy's ( Corner ) ...
"There was a bar over on 83rd and Cottage Grove called Sandy's. It was in a small shopping mall about a block long, and it was a little storefront bar. They used to pack the house up in there. I heard about it in 䚣 and that only lasted for about two years, if that long." - Alvin
Bid whist at Sculpture Club
"It was interesting, they would play cards and stuff. Bid whist games. They used to do the same thing at Martin's Den; most of the South Side bars they had that going on, to attract a crowd. A lot of Black gays were into playing card games. They had tournaments. Martin's Den had a tournament ... whoever won so many games won a prize ... and the bars would play each other. They'd get the best couple from Martin's Den and they would play the best couple from Jeffrey's Pub." - Alvin
Backrooms ...
"I used to go to Carol's Speakeasy and I never had no trouble there. That bar was kind of raunchy to me. They used to have sex in the backrooms and stuff. It's always amazed me that so-called predominantly white bars can get away with doing stuff like that, whereas the Black bars couldn't. I'm like, 'How do they get away with this?' Well maybe they know somebody." - Alvin
Sam's ...
"Oh Sam's was raunchy years ago. That bar was so packed that we used to be drinking out in the alley, cops never bothered us at all. You had from underage, pets of management, up to their 70s. It was every male hustler in town there and there were show folks. It was like the Old Bohemia Club ... they had rich people to the street people ... well, Sam's didn't have street people, but they had male prostitutes, it was that type of establishment. Between dough and people who were making it the only way they knew how to make it." - Old Marlene
Woody at Legacy
( formerly the 21 Club ) ...
"Oh God! Did I know Woody! I cleaned his apartment for him. He was a sweet man, he'd give you the shirt of his back. My cousin, many years ago, he was down on his luck. My uncle's house got burnt. At that time I was just scraping by, and Woody put my cousin up and gave him money. Just helped him out. My cousin comes into Chicago every couple of years and he always says, 'Woody was one of a kind.' Even back then, 25 years ago, they want you to put out or something, for the help they were giving, but Woody didn't do that. My cousin had red hair and green eyes and he was about 5ܐ", 5䙚" and he was a good looking guy back then, but he didn't have to work in the tavern, none of that, but Woody helped him out. I went to Woody's funeral here in Chicago, and nobody had a bad word to say about that man." - Old Marlene
Annex ...
"I worked at the original Annex in the late 䚌s. I was a doorman and did ID check. The Dallesandro's owned that bar years ago. They were Italian." - Old Marlene
The Briggs Initiative ...
"There was an open meeting. Guy Warner and Bill Kelley, possibly Marie Kuda was there ... Jay Deacon, I think it was at Guy Warner's apartment. He'd be a good one to interview, he was active in Mattachine Midwest, and then he was active in the Gay and Lesbian Political Coalition. Then he was active in PFLAG. So it was at his house, and someone talked about what the [ California ] Briggs Initiative was about. We needed to raise a lot of money. We decided there would be this dinner and it ended up where Troy Perry and Leonard Matlovich came and spoke at the dinner. There was going to be an art auction at the Bistro and that was something I volunteered to help with, me and two other people. One of my ex's was an artist and then my ex-lover had an ex-roommate who knew a lot of artists and so we were able to get a lot of good artwork there." - Mark
Memory Check: Burning Spear and the Sugar Shack were both straight bars. Sandy's Corner ( 8105 S. Cottage Grove ) , Sculpture Club ( 6403 S. King Dr. ) .
In 1974, the Annex, at 2865 N. Clark St., had its license saved by the Illinois Appellate Court after more than five years of legal battling. In a March 27 ruling, the court held that the City of Chicago was unjustified in revoking the license on grounds of "deviate sexual acts" and selling liquor to a minor.
The revocation was based on a police raid on August 20, 1968, when the city charged that customers were lewdly fondling each other and that one bartender made lewd contact with another.
The appeals court ruled that the conduct alleged, even if it occurred, did not constitute "deviate sexual conduct" under the law and that in any event the evidence did not support a finding that the acts had occurred.
On the night of the raid, the licensee's president was Nick Dallesandro. The bartenders were Dwight Menard and David Towell, and the bouncer was Michael Casabianca. The appellate case, known as Easy Life Club, Inc. v. License App. Com'n of Chicago, is legally cited as 310 N.E. 2d 705.
Be a part of reclaiming our history. Send your stories, memories and information to Sukie de la Croix at Outlines. He also interviews over the phone or by e-mail sukiedelacroix@iname.com
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What a Difference a Gay Makes
The Gay/Lesbian Movement, 5, 10, 15 & 20 Years Ago
by Sukie de la Croix
Jan. 30-Feb. 5
1995: 5 Years Ago
U.S.: A Minnesota state appeals court rules that Minneapolis can not extend health benefits to partners of gay/lesbian workers because state law doesn't recognize same-sex couples.*Singer/ writer/ hellraiser Henry Rollins tells Movieline: "I get hit on by so many guys. But that's been going on since I was 14, so it's no big deal. In fact, I see it as a compliment. If I was a gay guy, and I saw someone who was muscular, tattooed, intense, in a band—well, I'd be all over it."*In Seattle, Wash., state Sen. Cal Anderson announces that he has been HIV-positive for about 10 years and that he now has an AIDS-related lymphoma.*The Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization sues the city of New York to obtain a permit to protest before the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.*Brazil: Jorge Emiliano dos Santos, a well-known openly gay professional soccer referee, dies of AIDS at age 49.*Gisele Gaga, a transvestite prostitute and well-known activist, is shot dead at point-blank range by an off-duty policeman.*France: A Paris court rules that the Benetton clothing chain owes $9,500 each to three HIV-positives who were offended by the company's 1993 ad campaign that showed people tattooed with "HIV Positive."*Russia: The Russian Duma approved legislation that would require the majority of foreigners entering the country for more than a three-month period to either provide documentation that they are HIV-negative or submit to testing in the country.
1990: 10 Years Ago
U.S.: Newly appointed New York Mayor David Dinkins announces the appointment of an openly gay man, Dr. Billy Jones, as his new Commissioner of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Alcoholism Services.*The publication of the long-awaited Encyclopedia of Homosexuality is announced by Garland Publishers of New York City. It's issued in two volumes and costs $150.*A supermarket tabloid reports that a television producer named David Gadberry is currently working on a soap opera called Secret Passions which is to have gay characters and story line.
1985: 15 Years Ago
U.S.: Consenting Adult, a TV show based on Laura Z. Hobson's book about the relationship between a mother and her gay son, is shown. It stars Marlo Thomas and Barry Tubb.*No tolerance for "Tolerance Day" in Augustana, Maine, where the city's school board cancels a high school program because a lesbian activist is set to appear.*Nine lesbian and gay anti-apartheid protesters are arrested, including National Coalition of Black Gay's Gil Gerard and Michelle Parkinson; Tom Chorlton of National Association of Gay and Lesbian Democratic Clubs; Jeff Levi of NGTF; Christine Riddiough of National Organization of Women.*Ronald Reagan names homophobe Patrick Buchanan as the new White House director of communications.*The Sophie Horowitz Story by Sarah Schulman is in bookstores.*Improper Conduct, a film about gays and lesbians who have left Cuba, premieres in Chicago.*Joanne Woodward, Yoko Ono, Lily Tomlin, Anais Nin, Erica Jong and over a hundred other prominent women sign the Ms. magazine "petition for freedom of sexual choice."
1980: 20 Years Ago
U.S.: Congressman Joseph Wyatt, D-Tex., announces that he will not seek reelection to the House, because of growing doubts about his sexuality and his admitted drinking problems.*Donna Summer tells People magazine that she has become a born-again Christian and that God created Disco music so that she could become successful.*Idols by Dennis Cooper is in bookstores
