Chicago gay bar neighborhood
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“I don’t know any businessperson who likes the name,” said Johnston, 77, noting, “The message that it sends is not exactly open and welcoming to folks that are anything but boys.” Suddenly, the name was everywhere, and not everyone was happy about that. The real turning point came with the rise of the internet in the 1990s, and the appearance of “Boystown” on online maps, according to Johnston. Johnston says that’s true, but with the column, the name gained traction in Chicago.
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The author of that column, journalist Rex Wockner, told the Tribune via Twitter that the name was already in use at the time. “It’s just something I grew up with - knowing that name,” Negrete said of Boystown.Īrt Johnston, co-owner of the sprawling Sidetrack video bar in Boystown, traces the name back to a column called “Boys Town” that ran in a local LGBTQ paper in the late 1980s. Faced with new names for local landmarks such as the Willis (aka Sears) Tower or Macy’s (Marshall Field’s), Chicagoans often conscientiously object, expressing their loyalty and local roots by using names that are years out of date. Local attitudes, extending well beyond Boystown, also appear to play a role. “If you change the name, I’m worried that you’re going to lose that piece of history,” said Gary Chichester, 74, a board member emeritus at the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.
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It’s a place where the Chicago Pride parade grew to a citywide celebration of diversity and self-expression that draws an estimated 1 million people each year. Jo MaMa - the drag persona of Chicago artist and bartender Joe Lewis, 35 - said employers have made some progress. “We’ve got to keep those feet to the fire, and maybe escalate a little bit,” said Drag March organizer Jo MaMa, a Chicago drag queen who has been working with local bars and nightclubs for the past year on issues such as staff diversity training and enforcement of anti-racism policies. I’ve been out with friends who are lesbians, and they’ve been told by gay men in the bars, ‘Why are you here? This isn’t your neighborhood.’”Ī year later, the push for inclusion continues, with a second installment of the Drag March for Change scheduled for June 13. “I’ve worked in the neighborhood for years, and I’ve seen firsthand how people are treated in the North Halsted area, particularly transgender people of color, particularly women. “It’s something I’ve been passionate about for a long time,” Camp told the Tribune at the time. The petition authors called for Boystown, an unofficial but nearly universal nickname, to be dropped, as a first step toward deeper change. In the midst of the tumult, Devlyn Camp, 29, a podcast producer, co-wrote a petition calling for a name change that has garnered more than 1,500 signatures.