WBEZ’s Curious City has taken a closer look at the vibrant and evolving nightlife of queer women in Chicago, addressing a question posed by a Curious City listener: Where are all the queer women hanging out these days?
In recent years, events like Chicago Pride Fest, the iconic Pride Parade, and emerging spaces like Dorothy’s in West Town and Nobody’s Darling in Andersonville have contributed to a thriving sapphic nightlife scene.
For those seeking nonalcoholic environments, locales like Eli Tea Bar and the innovative Sapphopalooza film series at the Music Box Theatre have recently entered the scene, further illustrating the dynamic landscape that queer women navigate today.
However, the journey to this point has not always been straightforward.
Before the Northalsted neighborhood, popularly known as Boystown, was officially recognized in 1997 with the installation of rainbow pylons, LGBTQ+ life in Chicago was not limited to a single area.
Historically, queer Chicagoans have made their presence felt across the city, long before Boystown secured its place in gay history.
In the early 2000s, journalist Tracy Baim initiated an oral history project to memorialize LGBTQ+ experiences throughout the city, compiling around 200 interviews.
Among those voices was 81-year-old Gwen Meyer, who fondly remembered her early nightlife experiences near North Avenue and Halsted Street, reflecting that times were lively, punctuated by characters like “winos and hookers.”
Meanwhile, on Chicago’s South Side, Ruby Lucas and Tiny Davis established Ruby and Tiny’s Gay Spot on Wentworth Avenue in the 1950s.
This space served as a refuge for queer nightlife until it was lost to city development for the Dan Ryan Expressway.
Farther out in the suburbs, Calumet City proved to be a haven with fewer restrictions, described as a “Wild Wild West” for nightlife, where venues like The Patch operated from the early 1970s until 2006, cultivating a devoted following away from the city center.
These examples only scratch the surface of a rich, complex history.
Going back in time, one can find a thriving queer culture in Chicago’s early 20th century.
The neighborhood around the Water Tower, known as Towertown or Fairytown, became a gathering spot for women and gender-nonconforming individuals enjoying a level of freedom that would later diminish.
As wealthy residents abandoned the area, affordable housing options for artists and anarchists emerged, creating a vibrant bohemian culture.
Historian Lillian Faderman, a pivotal figure in lesbian history, points out that Towertown housed a significant lesbian culture during the 1920s.
In her extensive research, she references two prominent lesbian venues of the time: The Roselle Inn and The 1230 Club, despite their brief existences.
These venues made headlines during a time of police raids targeting women expressing their identities, revealing a fierce spirit within the community.
Chad Heap, an author examining the intersections of race and sexuality in American nightlife, notes that Prohibition contributed to a climate that allowed queer spaces to flourish, as nightlife became a more transgressive activity under the law.
One pivotal figure from Towertown is Eve Adams, a radical figure known for defying conventional gender norms.
Born Chawa Kotchever, Adams rebranded herself in a way that celebrated her identity as neither man nor woman, identifying as “a member of the third sex.”
In 1921, she opened The Grey Cottage, a literary salon just blocks from the Water Tower, hosting gatherings centered on radical ideas and conversation.
Adams is credited with authoring one of the earliest collections of lesbian short stories, titled Lesbian Love, which she distributed among friends, exemplifying the fearless spirit of her time.
However, this audacity came at a high cost.
After being arrested in 1926 for both sexual conduct with an undercover officer and distributing “obscene” materials, Adams faced a year and a half in jail before her deportation back to Poland.
Following her deportation, she relocated to France, where she found a literary community but ultimately faced a tragic fate: She was arrested by the Nazis in 1943 and deported to Auschwitz, where records concerning her survival are absent.
Adams’s story parallels the larger narrative of Towertown, which saw its bright beginnings overshadowed by increasing oppression.
With the end of Prohibition in 1933, new liquor laws imposed strictures that targeted bars serving queer patrons, further marginalizing LGBTQ+ nightlife.
No longer were queer individuals an integral part of mixed nightlife; instead, they were pushed to operate on the fringes, often at the mercy of organized crime’s unpredictable “protection.”
This transition marked a significant regression from the diverse, exuberant nightlife of the 1920s and 1930s, leading to a fragmented scene that hugged the city’s edges.
Uncovering tales like Eve Adams’ has proved challenging, as the history of queer women and gender-nonconforming people is often obscured, erased, or simply not documented.
Organizations such as the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives are diligently working to preserve these vital stories, showcasing that queer women have always carved out spaces for themselves, whether in underground clubs, jazz bars on the South Side, or basements in the suburbs.
Though finding queer women’s spaces is less daunting today, the winding quest toward visibility and rights serves as a testament to the hard-fought battles waged over decades.
Historian Lillian Faderman emphasizes that progress should not be taken for granted, recalling that the freedoms of the 1920s for queer women were often compromised in the following decades.
“We need to learn from history that although we’ve never made as much progress as we have in recent decades, it’s not necessarily for keeps,” Faderman warns, urging continued action and advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights.
As the modern scene flourishes, conversations about past struggles and triumphs serve to remind everyone of the need for vigilance and community organization in the ongoing fight for rights.
image source from：wbez
