Chicago has long had a gay neighborhood. Beginning in the 1920s there was active homosexual nightlife in Towertown, adjacent to the Water Tower. Increasing rents forced gay-friendly establishments steadily northwards, moving through Old Town and Lincoln Park along Clark Street and on to Boys Town. Boys Town presently serves as the best-known Chicago gayborhood, and the center of its LGBT culture. Gentrification has pushed many gay and lesbian people to reside ever further north into Uptown and Edgewater.
Politics
In 1961 Illinois was the first state to repeal its sodomy law. Effective LGBT political involvement began in the 1960s alongside the civil rights movement, with organizations such as Chicago Gay Liberation. The Chicago Gay and Lesbian Democrats was the main LGBT political group of the 1980s. LGBT interest groups and the Democratic Party have facilitated LGBT political involvement in Chicago. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Chuck Renslow was one of the main pioneers for Chicago's LGBT community through his advocacy for inclusion, and fought alongside the Democratic party to push for non-discrimination amongst LGBT individuals in Chicago. Chuck was also widely known for his long-running leather bar, which was also one of the first opened in Chicago, and his world-renowned provocative male photography that earned him a spot in the Chicago LGBT Hall Of Fame. In 1983 Mayor of Chicago candidate Jane Byrne promised to support LGBT issues, so the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Democrats endorsed Byrne. However Harold Washington won the Democratic Party primary. At that point the LGBT voters began to support Washington, and they helped him win the general election. LGBT voters supported Washington during his reelection in 1987 because, during his previous term, he supported LGBT causes and criticized homophobia. The following year, in 1988, he signed into law an anti-discrimination ordinance for the city of Chicago. ACT UP/Chicago was an organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with AIDS. It often criticized Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley. It later became a part of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.
Newspapers Chicago Gay Crusader and Windy City Times have served LGBT readers. Windy City Radio is the city's only LGBT radio station. Online guide is a news and events website for the Chicago/Midwest LGBT community.
