Tracing the gay movement's trajectory since the 1950s from the closet to the corridors of power, Queer Clout is the first book to weave together activism and electoral politics, shifting the story from the coastal gay meccas to the nation's great inland metropolis. Timothy Stewart-Winter challenges the traditional division between the homophile and gay liberation movements, and stresses gay people's and African Americans' shared focus on police harassment. He highlights the crucial role of black civil rights activists and political leaders in offering white gays and lesbians not only a model for protest but also an opening to join an emerging liberal coalition in city hall. The book draws on diverse oral histories and archival records spanning half a century, including those of undercover vice and police red squad investigators, previously unexamined interviews by midcentury social scientists studying gay life, and newly available papers of activists, politicians, and city agencies.As the first history of gay politics in the post-Stonewall era grounded in archival research, Queer Clout sheds new light on the politics of race, religion, and the AIDS crisis, and it shows how big-city politics paved the way for the gay movement's unprecedented successes under the nation's first African American president.
From the National Park Service:
In 1924 Henry Gerber founded the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. While he was in the Army, Gerber was stationed in Coblenz, Germany. While there, he experienced a more open homosexual community than in America. After his return to the U.S. in 1923, Gerber distanced himself from what he saw as a disorganized, politically unaware gay subculture, choosing instead to live in relative anonymity in a boarding house in Chicago, Illinois. In contrast to the more mainstream, community-oriented homosexual movement he experienced in Germany, American gay subculture was largely relegated to saloons, speakeasies, and the realm of prostitution, a marginalized place in society that was often seen as lascivious and criminal. When he founded the Society for Human Rights, Gerber melded his experiences with the German homophile movement with the American ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, continually referencing the importance of law and order, and a person's right to pursue happiness.
The Society for Human Rights published the earliest-documented homosexual periodical, Friendship and Freedom. Subscription rates were low, a problem that Gerber attributed to the fear of persecution felt by many homosexuals, which kept them from joining organizations or otherwise publicizing their sexual interests. Gerber himself was a victim of the social and political hostilities of the time; in 1925 he and several other group members were arrested. Although never charged, his belongings were confiscated and there were highly prejudiced legal proceedings and extensive, negative media coverage. As a result, the Society for Human Rights withered away.
Henry Gerber's enthusiasm for activism was severely dampened following these warrantless arrests. He went back to living a lower-profile life but continued writing about the position and plight of homosexuals and continued networking and building community with gay allies. In 2015, the Henry Gerber House became the nation's second National Historic Landmark designated for its association with LGBTQ history.
...a wave of labor organizing at queer institutions in Chicago—one that comes as queer people across the country grapple with a rising social and political backlash against LGBTQ+ people, all while deep-pocketed corporations abandon the queer customers to whom they’ve pandered for years...
Unions can be a way that most queer workers find community and protection, and it’s so important,” Balay says, citing the decades-long history of queer labor organizers fighting for landmark protections for workers, often during particularly hostile periods of anti-gay backlash.In an era where corporations abandon Pride campaigns and cave to pressure from anti-LGBTQ+ bigots, and politicians use queer lives to score points with voters, unions have cemented themselves as a way for queer workers to ensure their safety in workplaces that serve predominantly queer clientele.
On June 14, 1977 Chicago had its first big gay-rights protest
On this day in 1977, singer, orange-juice industry spokeswoman, and former Miss America Anita Bryant arrived in Chicago for a concert at the historic Medinah Temple (now a Bloomingdale’s outlet at Wabash and Ohio). The concert had been booked months earlier, before Bryant achieved a new national notoriety as leader of an anti-LGBTQ initiative in Dade County, Florida, where citizens voted to overturn an antidiscrimination ordinance that had been passed by the county commission earlier that year. The law prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, public service, and accommodations. The vote to repeal the law happened on June 7, 1977.
So a group of Chicago LGBTQ activists, including me, decided to organize a picket of the June 14 concert in Chicago. We were warned by gay establishment leaders that it would be an embarrassing failure. Back then, it seemed, the only time LGBTQ people turned out en masse was for the Pride Parade.
But a spontaneous, unexpected turnout of 3,000-plus people proved the naysayers wrong.
Frankie Knuckles and Chicago House Music
Renowned DJ and music producer Frankie Knuckles earned his title of “The Godfather of House Music” for his influential role in developing and popularizing the genre. His journey in Chicago started as the music director for The Warehouse, an invite-only nightclub of Black and Latino gay men, often considered birthplace of house music. Knuckles helped in creating a safe haven for queer people of color and eventually founded his own nightclub, Power House.Miss Continental Pageantry System
The Miss Continental pageant was founded in 1980 by Chicagoan Jim Flint and was the first beauty pageant to allow trans women to participate. The pageant system soon expanded with branches to include male entertainers, plus-size competitors, and entertainers over the age of forty. The competition has seen legendary past winners like Chilli Pepper, Mimi Marks, and Mokha Montrese - and even Drag Race stars Naysha Lopez, Brooke Lynn Hytes, and Roxxxy Andrews. Based out of the historic Baton Lounge, Miss Continental remains active to this day (celebrating over 50 years of the pageant) and garners thousands of attendees each Labor Day weekend.The Stroll
The Stroll was the colloquial name given to the section of State Street between 26th and 39th in the 1910s and 1920s. This bright light strip was buzzing with Black Chicagoans and the art and culture they created, particularly thriving during the Jazz Age. The Stroll was also home to numerous cabarets, vaudeville theaters, and dance palaces offering Black queer people more freedom in their personal lives. Artists who migrated during this time include openly gay ragtime piano player Tony Jackson, blues singer Gertrude “Ma” Raineywith songs alluding to her sexuality, and several other trans women, drag queens, and “female impersonators”.South Side Ballroom Culture
The ballroom scene in Chicago dates back to the 1920s in Bronzeville and the South Side. One of the first documented balls, the Finnie Balls, was led by a gay street hustler named Alfred Finnie. These grew and amassed huge gatherings on special events like Halloween. Balls in Chicago were also amongst the first to have a drag presence, even before New York. Due to the city’s long history of segregation, old-school balls stayed primarily on the South Side of Chicago, but still provided a space for non-black queer people. The culture of voguing and ballroom competitions continues to this day and is imperative to maintaining a community for Black queer youth. The Annual Midwest Ball is one of the biggest in the US.The Intersection Of Black and LGBTQ Activism
Police harassment disproportionately affected Black and LGBTQ communities in Chicago. This led a lot of LGBTQ activists to align their organizations with Black political leaders who increasingly challenged police brutality through protests and lawsuits. The 70s and 80s also saw the foundations of transgender political organizations like the Transvestites Legal Committee and the Black Panther Party chapter in Chicago working with the Chicago Gay Alliance and the Mattachine Midwest to focus on entrapment police harassment and raids. The first black mayor of Chicago, Harold Washington, was influential in repealing laws against sodomy and homosexuality. Another pivotal moment of intersectionality was the Ad Hoc Committee of Proud Black Lesbians and Gays. The organization was founded in 1993 to represent the Black LGBTQ+ community in the Bud Billiken Parade. While the initial application was denied, the group was able to participate the following year with the help of Lamda Legal and marched near the front of the parade, celebrating themes of visibility, youth education, and anti-violence.Jane Addams and Hull-House
Jane Addams was a settlement activist and reformer who was an important leader in the women’s suffrage movement, based out of Chicago. She founded one of America’s biggest settlement houses, Hull-House on the North West Side of Chicago, with her romantic partner Ellen Gates Star. While contemporary language about sexuality and gender did not exist at the time, Addams exclusively had relationships with women who were also activists. The Hull-House complex grew to thirteen buildings in Chicago and over 500 settlement houses across the nation, and still stands today as the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum.Henry Gerber and the Society For Human Rights
German immigrant Henry Gerber founded the Society For Human Rights, the nation’s first gay rights organization, as well as Friendship & Freedom, the first American publication for gay men. Unfortunately, both the organization and publication faced an early demise following the arrest of several of the Society's members. His legacy lives on in the Henry Gerber House, designated a Chicago and National Landmark, and the Gerber/Hart Library. Gerber’s organization was also influential in the founding of the Mattachine Society and its Chicago chapter.Chuck Renslow and Chicago’s Leather Scene
Chuck Renslow was an openly gay artist and activist who was extremely influential in developing Chicago’s world-famous leather and kink scene. Renslow started as a photographer and founded a male physique photography studio with his partner Dom “Etienne” Orejudos, a homoerotic artist. Together they founded the country’s first gay leather bar, Gold Coast Bar, as well as Man’s Country Bathhouse. Renslow also founded Chicago's August White Party (now a popular circuit party format) and the International Mr. Leather competition that garners thousands of attendees from around the world. Renslow’s legacy is secured in the Leather Archives and Museum that he co-founded with Tony DeBlase.Lesbian Pulp Fictions Novels
With very little LGBTQ media available at the time, lesbian pulp fiction novels emerged as cheap and disposable entertainment that developed its own circulation subculture amongst (closeted) lesbian and bisexual women. These paperbacks gained immense popularity with their overtly lesbian themes and titillating art. Chicago’s Newsstand Library Books publisher led the pack with pulp novels made available at bus stops and newspaper stands until a judge declared the books obscene and non-mailable. Popular local author Valerie Taylor also served as an LGBTQ activist and co-founded the Mattachine Society and the Lesbian Writers' Conference in Chicago. As part of their "Femme Fatale" series, Feminist Press has reissued three of Taylor's novels.The Gay Liberation March For The Stonewall Riots
In June 1970, Chicago was one of four cities in the US that led a Gay Liberation March to commemorate the Stonewall Riots in New York. The rally started in Washington Park also known as Bughouse Square, a popular site for political and artistic discourse as well as a cruising area for queer men. The march grew rapidly gaining support from local organizations in the 70s and 80s, and eventually developed into the Annual Chicago Pride Parade we now see on the Northalsted strip. The Newberry Library in Washington Park continues the tradition of the Bughouse Square Debates via mounted soapboxes for all speakers and performers to use.
Chicago Tribune, 30 Key Moments in Chicago's LGBTQ History,
1889: Social reformer and activist Jane Addams opens Chicago’s Hull House, a settlement house, on the city’s West Side. Addams “had at least two long-term same-sex relationships — one of which, with Mary Rozet Smith, lasted 40 years,” according to the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.
1914: Pearl Hart graduates from John Marshall Law School in 1914. Known as the “Guardian Angel of Chicago’s Gay Community,” Hart is one of the first female attorneys to practice criminal law in Chicago and frequently defends countless gay men arrested in bars and tea rooms.
1924: The first American gay rights organization, The Society for Human Rights, is created by German immigrant and Chicago resident Henry Gerber. The state of Illinois officially recognizes the group on Dec. 10, 1924.
1935: Street hustler and gambler Alfred Finnie hosts the first Finnie’s Ball in a basement tavern near 38th Street and Michigan Avenue on Chicago’s South Side. The festivities continue for decades, with thousands of attendees participating in female impersonation contests. A 1953 Ebony magazine article said, “More than 1,500 spectators milled around outside Chicago’s Pershing Ballroom to get a glimpse of the bejeweled impersonators who arrived in limousines, taxis, Fords, and even by streetcar.”
1950: Jazz trumpeter Ernestine “Tiny” Davis opens the club Tiny & Ruby’s Gay Spot with her partner Ruby Lucas in the 2700 block of South Wentworth Avenue in Chicago.
1956: On Aug. 30, 1956, psychologist Evelyn Hooker delivers her paper “The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual,” which was published a year later, at the American Psychiatric Association Convention in Chicago. Her study challenged beliefs about gay men and found that they were not inherently abnormal. In 1973 the APA removed homosexuality from its list of psychiatric disorders.
1959: “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry becomes the first play written by an African American woman to open on Broadway. Hansberry, who grew up on Chicago’s South Side, featured same-sex attraction in some of her work and is credited with writing two pro-lesbian letters in “The Ladder,” an early lesbian publication, according to the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.
1961: Illinois is the first state to do away with sodomy laws on July 28, 1961.
1965: Lesbian pulp novelist Valerie Taylor and lawyer Pearl Hart, among others, establish Mattachine Midwest, the city’s first successful gay rights organization. The group publishes the Mattachine Midwest Newsletter covering police harassment, raids, legal issues, local events, meetings, community news and more.
1968: Attorney Ralla Klepak represents Chicago bar The Trip after it is illegally raided and loses its liquor license. The case makes it to the Supreme Court and Klepak is victorious.
1970: One of the first pride parades in the U.S. is held in Chicago on June 27, 1970, a day before the anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York a year earlier.
1974: The Chicago Gay Medical Students Association creates Howard Brown Memorial Clinic, a place where gays and lesbians can receive counseling and sexually transmitted infections testing and treatment. The clinic eventually becomes Howard Brown Health Center.
1977: On June 14, 1977, thousands gather outside the Medinah Temple to protest Florida orange juice spokeswoman Anita Bryant, who opposed gay rights.
1984: Mayor Harold Washington delivers a speech at an LGBT rally in Lincoln Park, endorsing what was known as the Human Rights Ordinance. This is the first time a sitting mayor speaks at an event not connected to a campaign. Washington died before the ordinance was approved by the City Council on Dec. 21, 1988.
1985: On March 2, 1985, drugmaker Abbott develops the first blood screening test for HIV antibodies.
1985:On Sept. 9, 1985, Chicago House is incorporated in Illinois as a nonprofit with the goal of providing housing to those with AIDS.
1988: The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, which honors the lives of those lost to the disease, is displayed at Navy Pier from July 7 to July 11, 1988.
1989: On Jan. 2, 1989, Open Hand Chicago begins regular meal deliveries for those impacted by AIDS.
1991: The Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, later renamed the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame, is created in Chicago, honoring people and organizations who have contributed to the city’s LGBTQ communities.
1992: The University of Chicago begins to offer benefits to gay and lesbian couples, one of the first colleges to do so.
1992: Daniel Sotomayor, the co-founder of ACT-UP/Chicago, a national organization committed to using direct action and civil disobedience to fight AIDS, passes away.
1994: Thomas R. Chiola is the first openly gay elected official in Illinois when he becomes a Cook County Circuit Court judge.
1995: Judges on a state appellate court note, “nothing in the (Adoption) Act suggests that sexual orientation is a relevant consideration, and lesbians and gay men are permitted to adopt in Illinois.”
1997: Chicago passes an ordinance that grants fringe benefits to same-sex domestic partners of city government employees.
2001: Illinois recognizes hate crimes against gays, lesbians and bisexuals.
2007: On June 1, 2007, The Center on Halsted, which began in 1973 as Gay Horizons, opens its doors on the corner of Halsted Street and Waveland Avenue. Now, more than 1,000 people use the center each day.
2008: Illinois legislators decide same-sex partners can make decisions regarding health care in certain circumstances.
2010: Illinois passes the Safe School Improvement Act, which prohibits bullying and the harassment of students based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
2013: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signs the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, making Illinois the 16th state in the nation to embrace full marriage equality for same-sex couples on Nov. 20, 2013. Longtime activist Vernita Gray, and her partner, Patricia Ewert, are the first same-sex couple married in Illinois on Nov. 27, 2013.
2019: Lori Lightfoot, 56, is elected mayor of Chicago. She becomes Chicago’s first black woman and openly gay mayor. She is inaugurated May 20, 2019.
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