Florida Agenda

By ROBERT ELIAS DEATON

Following up on last week’s introduction to Chicago, Illinois, we return to President Obama’s onetime hometown to scour the gayborhoods best bars, clubs, and cafés.

Chicago’s largest gay village is nicknamed Boystown, though it’s legally known as Lakeview. The first officially recognized gay neighborhood in the United States, it is also the cultural center of one of the largest LGBT communities in the nation. For those who keep track of such statistics, Boystown also has more resident drag queens per square inch than any other place in America.

Our hands-down favorite club in the area is Sidetrack (3349 N Halsted St., between Roscoe and Buckingham). Currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, Sidetrack is a labyrinth of seven bars, lounges and a celebrated balcony from which all things wicked can be observed. It’s the largest video bar in Chicago, and swears it sells more vodka per night than any other bar in the entire U.S.A. Just down the block and across the street is Roscoe’s (3356 N Halsted St.), where the kids go to dance, and the Daddies go to spoil them. Roscoe’s, now in its 25th year, is a great place for eats in spring, summer and the beginning of fall, with its sidewalk café. The big draw is the wet boxers contest the first Sunday of each month— boxers as in underwear, not pugilists.

Continue walking up Halsted Street and visit Cocktail (3359 N Halsted St.), where the drinks are fun concoctions like strawberry mojitos, legendary DJ’s spin sizzling hot music, and some surprisingly good Chicago pizza and salads are served at The Garden. Very hot go-go dancers perform on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights.

Hydrate (3458 N Halsted St.) gets points for its College Night on Tuesday. Drinks are $1 each and you don’t have to be matriculating to attend. Those that are, however, get inside for no cover charge with appropriate college I.D. The rest of the week are drag events at Hydrate, with all the drama and hair such a schedule suggests.

For those into leather and bear packs, there is always the tried-and-true CellBlock (3702 N Halsted St.). While the front bar is rather tame, the back bar is serious leather, with porn videos to prove the point.

For something a lot sleazier, pump it up and head to Manhandler Saloon (1948 N. Halsted St.). This place is Chicago’s bar-equivalent to a bathhouse, so don’t give us those Betty Boop eyes when your pants are pulled down around your knees and a wet mouth enters your sightline. This does not happen in plain view, of course.

Mosey right through the front bar with its surly bartenders, and right through the back patio. The action takes place beyond the stockade fencing where crowds as large as three dozen will be doing the nasty nightly. Chicago’s alternative gayborhood to Boystown is Andersonville. This one-time Swedish settlement has given way to upscale LGBT residents who flock to @mosphere (5355 N Clark St. at Balmoral Ave.). The attractions here are drink specials, a large dance floor, and go-go dancers from Wednesday through Saturday. Go a little further north and discover Touché (6412 N Clark St. at W Devon Ave.), a fancy name for a leather bar that’s been around for 35 years. The place is sweet with just the right stench, and men’s men playing in the backroom. Our kinda town.

CHICAGO PART 1 HERE

By ROBERT ELIAS DEATON

Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town,” Frank Sinatra sang in his 1957 recording. It was quite the popular hit at the time, though we’ve always been hard pressed to understand what a toddlin’ town actually is. One thing we do know is that Chicago has earned every bit of its reputation as an exciting, sophisticated and dangerous place to live. Yes, dangerous. So far this year, there have been over 400 murders in Chicago—more murders than the much larger cities of New York (312) and Los Angeles (212).

That aside, it’s fortunate that the charm of this town continues unabated, particularly for those with an interest in architecture and the arts. The Art Institute of Chicago (111 S Michigan Ave) is the second largest museum in the United States (the largest is the Metropolitan in New York). It has a truly amazing permanent collection, particularly focusing on impressionist and post-impressionistic painters. Additionally, the African American Art Collection found here is well known for its assortment of paintings by Archibald John Motley, Jr. There’s a roof-top terrace that provides a great break from the art, and offers a fantastic view of the city. For those using public transportation, head for the Adams/ Wabash Station via the Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, or Purple Lines.

Architecturally speaking, Chicago is a Whitman’s Sampler of tastes and style. Some of our favorite buildings in this city on Lake Michigan include Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica (3121 W Jackson Blvd.); the former Sears Tower—now officially called the Willis Tower (233 S Wacker Dr)—at one time the tallest building in the world; the Chicago Avenue Pumping Station (821 N Michigan Ave) that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871; the CNA Center (333 S Wabash Ave), whose major claim to fame is its sunset red paint; and the 311 S Wacker Dr. Building that holds two distinctions. Until recently, it was the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world, and it remains the tallest building to be known by its street address alone. The city devotes over eight percent of its land area to parks. Of these, Lincoln Park holds a special place for us since it is not only the largest of Chicago’s parks (with 1,200 acres), it is also the only park to span many different neighborhoods throughout the north side, as it is nestled between Lake Shore Dr. and Lake Michigan. As such, it has many different entrances, but the one located at 2001 N Clark St. will get you to the front of the Lincoln Park Zoo—always a fun place to visit. Any time of the day or night, Grant Park, located in the downtown business district along Lake Michigan, is showcased by the famed Buckingham Fountain, dedicated in 1927. A water show operates in the Rococostyle fountain from April to October, with decorative lighting taking the stage when the weather turns cooler. For those into trivia, the fountain was featured in the opening credits to the TV hit “Married.with Children.”

Our favorite new hotel in Chicago is the PUBLIC (11301 N State Pkwy.). The one-time Ambassador East Hotel, home of the famous Pump Room, has been re-invented by Ian Schrager (of Studio 54 fame). While the Pump Room remains a fragment of its former self, the guest rooms in PUBLIC are incredibly efficient, lovely, and beginning at $135 a night, they’re a bargain.

Next week, we’ll cover the bar and club scene of the Windy City. Hold your breath. It’s worth the wait.

CHICAGO PART 2 HERE

FORT LAUDERDALE – Members of the Board of Directors of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (GFLGLCC) will attend the annual conference this month of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). Board members Keith Blackburn— CEO of the GFLGLCC—Steve McAleer, and Alan Beck will join 500 other gay business and community leaders in Chicago, August 7 to 10, to represent chamber members, as well as community and media partners.

This year’s NGLCC Business and Leadership Conference theme is “Certify your Success!”

CHICAGO, IL – On May 27, Woody Woodruff, the reigning Mr. Michigan Leather 2012, was selected as the 2012 International Mr. Leather, in an event held at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. The 34th annual event included the installation of First Runner-up A.C. Demidont—Mr. Eagle New York 2012—and Second Runner-up Kevin Jordan—the current Mr. DC Eagle 2012.

CHICAGO, IL – A kiss by two gay men briefly interrupted a rally in support of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Friday night held at a Christian school in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights.

While Santorum addressed the crowd at Christian Liberty Academy, two men in the back of the auditorium stood up and started yelling, “Mic check, Mr. Santorum!” in the fashion of the Occupy movement. Once they had the assembly’s attention, the couple castigated the former Pennsylvania senator for his stance on LGBT rights.

“This will never be an equal country for families –” they began, but feeling the crowd of 2,000 people’s attention slipping away, the two men—identified in the Palatine Patch, a local newspaper, as Timothy Tross and Ben Clifford- -embraced in a prolonged kiss that lasted for at least five seconds.

Thus provoked, the crowd began to chant “USA! USA!” as security escorted the men out of the facility.

Tross said their kiss was neither a symbolic gesture nor a pure display of affection. “I don’t think the message should be about what my sexuality is.

It’s the message that [Santorum] is saying about sexuality that matters.”

CHICAGO, IL – On her new television network, talk show host Oprah Winfrey gave a platform to Pastor Joel Osteen to express his views on homosexuality. The faith leader appeared on “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” where he voiced his opinion on homosexuality and heaven. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Osteen when asked whether gay individuals would be accepted into heaven, he replied, “I believe they will, because I believe that you have to have forgiveness for your sins. But, sometimes we look at gay being a bigger sin than being proud or not telling the truth. I don’t think God categorizes sins.”

Oprah pressed to clarify whether Osteen did, in fact, view being gay as a sin. “I believe that homosexuality is shown as a sin in the scripture. I do,” Osteen replied. “It’s a hard thing in a sense, Oprah, because I’m for everybody. I’m not against anybody. I don’t think anybody’s second class.”

By Cliff Dunn

Photo: Cardinal Francis George (Courtesy: CNS/Nancy Wiechec)

Gay rights groups in and around Chicago are condemning the city’s Roman Catholic leader for what they say is comparing the LGBT rights movement to the Ku Klux Klan.

The offending remarks from Cardinal Francis George were said during an interview on December 21 with Fox Chicago. Asked for his opinion about a local pastor’s complaints that the annual gay pride parade was forcing his parish to cancel its morning mass, George said he supported the priest’s position.

Said George: “You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism,” an apparent reference to attempts by members of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party of America to march in nearby Skokie, Illinois in the late 1970s.

When pressed by the reporter, George admitted that his words were provocative, but repeated the acknowledged that it was a strong analogy, but stood by his reasoning. “The rhetoric of the KKK and the rhetoric of some of the gay liberation people — Who is the enemy? The Catholic Church,” George reiterated.

Organizers of Chicago’s annual pride parade agreed on December 21 to begin the event at a later start time after officials with Our Lady of Mt.

Carmel Catholic Church said that to the proposed route blocked access to their parish’s Sunday Masses.

Equally Blessed, a coalition of Catholic groups that advocate LGBT rights, said that Cardinal George’s remarks were “crude” and “demagogic.” In a statement, the group wrote: “Cardinal George’s offensive comments are further evidence of just how insensitive and out of touch the hierarchy is, and why opposition to its views is necessary.”

The embattled cardinal seemed to backtrack from his comments during a subsequent interview on Christmas Day, telling ABC in Chicago that “obviously, it’s absurd to say the gay and lesbian community are the Ku Klux Klan. But if you organize a parade that looks like parades that we’ve had in our past because it stops us from worshiping God, well then that’s the comparison. But it’s not with people and people – it’s parade-parade.”

Meanwhile, LGBT rights group Truth Wins Out called for George to step down from his pastoral duties in a full page ad that ran in The Chicago Tribune on New Year’s Day.

CHICAGO, IL – One of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in Chicago has objected to the proposed route for the city’s gay pride parade claiming that the parade will draw large crowds and block the entrance of the church for Sunday Mass, the Chicago Tribune reported.

For over 40 years, the parade has run through the north side of the Chicago and attracted over 800,000 people last year. To better accommodate the large crowds, the parade organizers extended the route next year further north, has scaled back the number of floats and will start the parade earlier in the day. Chicago’s gay pride parade is held the last Sunday in June.

The new route takes the parade in front of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church. Church officials are circulating a petition informing the city that the extended route and the earlier parade start time conflicts with the church’s Mass schedule and that the church may, for the first time in almost 100 years, have to cancel services the day of the parade.

CHICAGO, IL – A new study by the University of Chicago suggests that openly gay men face substantial job discrimination in certain parts of the U.S.

The study, which is the largest of its kind to look at job discrimination against gay men, found that employers in the South and Midwest were much less likely to offer an interview if an applicant’s resume indicates that he is openly gay. Overall, the study found that gay applicants were 40 percent less likely to be granted an interview than their heterosexual counterparts.

“The results indicate that gay men encounter significant barriers in the hiring process because, at the initial point of contact, employers more readily disqualify openly gay applicants than equally qualified heterosexual applicants,” wrote the study’s author, András Tilcsik.

The research has been published in the American Journal of Sociology.

Unprotected Sex –More Likely for Young Gay Men

CHICAGO, IL – A new study has found that gay young men, who are in a serious relationship, are six times more likely to have unprotected sex than those who hook up with casual partners.

The findings by new Northwestern Medicine provide a new direction for prevention efforts in this population who account for nearly 70 per cent of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in adolescents and young adults.

“Being in a serious relationship provides a number of mental and physical health benefits, but it also increases behaviors that put you at risk for HIV transmission,” Brian Mustanski, associate professor in medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of a paper on the research, said.

“Men who believe a relationship is serious mistakenly think they don’t need to protect themselves,” he stated.

About 80 percent of gay young men who are HIV positive don’t know it, because they aren’t being tested frequently enough, he noted.

“It isn’t enough to ask your partner his HIV status. Instead, both people in a serious, monogamous couple relationship should go and receive at least two HIV tests before deciding to stop using condoms,” Mustanski said.

The Northwestern study looked at the behaviours of a diverse population of 122 young men (16 to 20 years old when the study began) over two years in Chicago and the suburbs.

The men are a subset of participants in Mustanski’s ongoing longitudinal study on the sexual and mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth.

The study has been published online in the journal Health Psychology.