Out and Proud in Chicago ( Agate Surrey, 978-1-57284-100-0; 224 pages; $30; edited by Tracy Baim ) —the first published full-length history of the LGBT community in Chicago—will be out in bookstores this September.
Lavishly illustrated with almost 400 historical color and black-and-white photographs, and drawing on the scholarly, historical and journalistic contributions of a breadth of authorities on Chicago's LGBT culture and scene, this is a first-ever, one-of-a-kind overview of Chicago's LGBT community and its history. Published as a companion to the WTTW public television documentary of the same name, and to the Web site www.ChicagoGayHistory.org, the book is organized into a few main chronological sections:
—Prairie Settlement to 1949
—1950s to 1960s: The Seeds of Change
—1970s: The We Decade
—1980s: Silence = Death
—1990s: Taking Charge
—2000s: Prospects for the Future
Out & Proud in Chicago begins the work of capturing a history that often has been hidden, or at least elusive. As Tracy Baim writes in her introduction, "A few brave people did try to document our community, either as major events were happening or through groundbreaking historical research. These writers, journalists, photographers, filmmakers, academics and historians have tried to find many needles in the haystack, through interviews with pioneers, digging into old university and museum archives, and reading the often-biased coverage of the mainstream media. In some cases, finding out if there was a 'there' there meant reading between the lines and piecing together what it was to be 'gay' 100 years ago."
As the gay movement evolved and strengthened in the mid- to late-20th century, of course, more history was made and documented, both in words and images. The book brings this story up to the present day, looking at Chicago's contemporary LGBT world and its prospects for a flourishing future.
Tracy Baim is co-founder of Windy City Times and is publisher and executive editor of Windy City Media Group. As a journalist, she has covered the Chicago gay and lesbian community since 1984. Baim has received numerous honors, including the Studs Terkel Award and induction into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.