E-mails from William Krick ...
"The very first gay bar I ever went to was the Normandy. This was in 1970 while I was in seminary at Garrett ( at Northwestern in Evanston ) . I was 'writing a paper on homosexuality.' The son of the local Methodist Superintendent was attending Garrett and he told me he would take me there anytime I wanted. So, one weekday night we went out to the Normandy. I don't even remember much where it was. I was, of course, terrified, and when somebody in the bar came up to me and talked about 'Golden Showers,' I hadn't the foggiest idea what he was talking about. I had always been somewhat naive about sexual items, so these terms were like a foreign language to me. I was somewhat shocked when my friend ( whose name I can't remember now ) told me what the guy was saying. I do remember this event because I was writing my paper ( which I still have—a regular packrat—on the Ethics of Homosexuality ) and was afraid. I first got the idea of going to the Normandy when I went to the gay group on campus ( a small fledgling group whose name again I have forgotten ) led by a remarkable person named Bill D.—I have never forgotten him. Unfortunately, I think he died of AIDS.
"I have never been a bar person, so most of the time I never went to bars except while working for Gay Horizons to get donations or for the Baths Testing Project to get people to be tested, and most of the bars existent in the 1970s I probably went to only once or maybe twice, except possibly on Broadway. So this event stands out very strongly because I was just in the process of identifying who I was and there I was in Seminary!"
The May 2, 1970: 1st NU Gay Lib dance at Patten Gym on the Evanston campus ...
" ... I believe I did go—I certainly remember the event, but the rest is somewhat vague in terms of details, as it was 30 years ago. ( As I promised, I am not remembering things I don't remember or that happened when I wasn't there. ) I had completely forgotten about it, and when I looked in my files, I discover there was another dance by the Gay Liberation in February—I think at University of Chicago—Pierce Hall or something like that. The details are in my file—a newsletter from the Chicago Gay Alliance is there. Besides that, I find I have several newsletters from them during 1970 —which was something I had forgotten."
When did you join Gay Horizons? ...
" ... Through Paul Stensland. Shortly after the dance at Northwestern, there was the very first Gay Pride March in Chicago at Grant Park—I have photos ( polaroids of poor quality ) which show Bill Dry, and I think Paul Stensland is in one picture—it is hard to tell, but it looks like him. Which means Paul and I met in 1970 and then again in 1973, nearly three years later to the day.
"With that connection, Paul Stensland was one of the very first people I met when I came to Chicago Gay Alliance on Elm Street in 1973 after taking my orders and leaving the church. I drove over to LaSalle Street, parked the car, and saw this young man going down the street. I thought, 'There goes a trim craft; where he goes, there is the Chicago Gay Alliance.' Certainly, I was right. The young man turned out to be Larry Gehrke, a friend lo these nearly 30 years. At that time, Chicago Gay Alliance was rapidly disintegrating into factions—one group ( with whom Larry identified ) wanted social work and helping the gay community on a nonpolitical basis. The other wanted all politics. So it was agreed that the one group would try to set something up. I joined this group, and invited them to 850 Diversey Street, apartment 1 —the birthplace of Gay Horizons. In that apartment for several months, we hammered out bylaws, names, positions, purpose, goals and every other kind of thing you can imagine, because, while we did not want politics ( how naïve we were—politics is everywhere ) , we did want a non-for-profit organization with tax-exempt status ( granted several years later ) .
"Ed Mogul was our attorney, and we worked hard ( the group of six ) to set up a lasting organization. Obviously we succeeded. In those early days, 850 Diversey Street saw many people coming and going including: Bill Hendricks, Skeeter ( our token lesbian at the time who introduced me to Rita Mae Brown and Rubyfruit Jungle—a very great gift ) , Larry Gehrke, Ron Dickson, Bruce Gooddell and myself—these were the original founders. Harry Miller, Paul Stensland, Jon Blomberg. Herbert Kovashny joined in and helped expand the group's nucleus. Anybody else who claims to have been there is probably dreaming like all those people who were at Stonewall.
"We, of course, had connections with Bill Kelley, Michael Bergeron, and others who were in the old CGA. But the basic core group gathered there at 850 Diversey and founded the organization there. I still drive by when I get to Chicago to look at the old place—it is still there. It was an amazing apartment with a 45-foot front room which made it ideal for meetings and when necessary coffeehouses ( when Liberty Hall was too cold or locked up ) . Those were hectic days because we were trying something new —something no one had any college education for—taking a risk that no one would do today ( insurance and lawsuits being what they are ) , but then we believed wholeheartedly in what we were doing. This puts in the nutshell how I got connected—right on the ground floor.
"I will say that Bill Hendricks made a great chairman, and life would have been much different if he hadn't had his crisis over his sexuality six months later—he was forceful, knew what he was doing, and was prepared. He also had made the initial contacts with the Gay Medical Students over the VD Clinic, which, to give proper credit, was his baby—unfortunately, his personal crisis caused him to leave it an orphan. I had to move in to fill the void. But that is probably jumping the gun on your questions. We had our very first annual meeting then in January and filed for tax-exempt status ( through Ed Mogul ) in February, 1974."
Future historians take note: The memory section in this column contains just that—memories—and are only to be used as a starting point for your research. Send your stories to Sukie de la Croix at WCT. He also interviews over the phone or by e-mail sukiedelacroix@iname.com
