Boystown Gayborhood watch
These four Boystown alternatives each make a queer case for themselves.
ANDERSONVILLE
Once known to some as Girlstown for its strong lesbian population
Drag Queen Story Hour
LOGAN SQUARE
queer women and people of color. But it didn’t last forever. At minimum,
Boystown was too out of the way for Illuminaughty’s clientele. Eventually, says Black, “it got to a point that the crowd we created the space for got tired of Boystown. We couldn’t change that all at once.” Black, like Kaza, took her parties to Logan Square, out of convenience and comfort for her attendees.
So, what’s next?
To fully reach its potential as a safe space and mobilizer for Chicago’s entire LGBTQ community, many agree that Boystown needs to change. Its symbolic and historic importance to the
city’s queer community still carries weight. People gravitate toward Halsted and Roscoe for both celebratory occasions, such as when the Supreme Court decriminalized sodomy in 2003, and mournful ones, like the memorial for the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting last summer. There is political potential in a home base for Chicago’s entire LGBTQ community. But with so much of Boystown’s energy in its bars and clubs, some say these businesses need to do more to actively engage all kinds of queers. “As a gay white male, [I think] we need to be especially critical of the kind of community we want to be. We need to be allies for our LGBTQ brothers and sisters who have been marginalized,” says Alfano. If the city’s official gayborhood wants to remain central to new LGBTQ generations— and that’s a big if—it has a lot of work to do.
DISCOVER! 33 TRQPiTECA PILSEN
As a neighborhood with a thriving creative population, Pilsen has a queer scene that's an amalgam of DIY dance parties, performance art and experimental house music. Rotating dance party TRQPiTECA, based in Pilsen, combines South Side DJs, art installations and tropical vibes to
ROGERS PARK
This Far North Side ’hood has long been proud of its diversity, and that extends to the LGBTQ community. Rogers Park is home to two queer- history institutions Gerber/Hart Library and Leather Archives and Museum, and gay-oriented businesses include nightclub Jackhammer and the genteel newer entry Rogers Park Social.
Over the past few years, Logan Square has emerged as a mecca for young queer Chicagoans, including women, people of color and, well, hipsters. There’s no dearth of queer party options in Logan: The ’hood is home to Chicago LGBTQ staples Slo ’Mo and Burly, and it’s only a stone’s throw from Off Chances at Danny’s and Empty Bottle’s
(which may have followed feminist bookstore Women & Children First when it moved from Halsted to Andersonville in the early ’90s), Andersonville, in recent years, has seen an influx of male couples as they marry and buy property. The nabe also supports queer-owned businesses like Hamburger Mary’s
Slo 'Mo
Leather Archives and Museum
Feel the pride this summer at
timeout.com/chicago. June 7–September 5, 2017 Time Out Chicago
PHOTOGRAPHS: TOP CENTER: COURTESY WOMEN & CHILDREN FIRST; CENTER RIGHT: JACLYN RIVAS; CENTER LEFT: SANDRA OVIDEO; BOTTOM RIGHT: COURTESY LEATHER ARCHIVES AND MUSEUM
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