Out and Proud in Chicago

It may come as a surprise to people living on the coasts (and quite frankly, to Midwesterners as well) that Chicago has played a pivotal role in the shaping of the modern gay movement. But the smoking gun is right here in this colorful new pictorial history, a companion to the WTTW-Channel 11 special that aired earlier this year. Edited and compiled by Windy City Times publisher Baim, Out and Proud does not aim to deliver the kind of comprehensive history that The Gay Metropolis or Gay L.A. offered New York and Los Angeles, but rather a vivid snapshot for a generation stuck on thinking LGBT history began with those rainbow-ringed pylons lining North Halsted Street.

Are Chicago residents aware, for example, that the first documented gay-rights organization in the U.S. is credited to German-born activist Henry Gerber, who started the Chicago Society for Human Rights in 1924? Do people know that social crusader Jane Addams was a lesbian? Or that famed architect Louis Sullivan enjoyed Greco-Roman wrestling, “lovingly drew men’s bodies,” and remained a bachelor until age 43?

Unfortunately, as they say in the gay community, size matters, and because Out and Proud is presented in oversize coffee-table format, it lacks the gravity of a more academic take. An oversize book such as this lends itself to casually flipping through, which is a shame, because the history upfront is loaded with good stuff. But you can bet the pictures of Cyndi Lauper and cut athletes strutting around at the Gay Games will pull the reader’s attention. Hopefully, history buffs and the LGBT community will take the time to read this from cover to cover, because this history of Chicago’s gay community offers, dare we say it, plenty of pride.

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