Yasmin Nair

Bar none: Gay clubs reject bachelorette parties

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date April 29, 2009

Dawn Turner Trice’s recent Chicago Tribune article, “Gay rights battle puts strain on parties,” has created a stir. Trice noted that Geno Zaharakis of Cocktail, a gay bar at 3359 N. Halsted, does not allow bachelorette parties. Neither does the popular nightspot Sidetrack (next door at 3349 N. Halsted) , co-owned by Art Johnston, who was quoted in the article. The story disrupts the popular mythology about the bond between gay men and straight women, and it shines a new spotlight on the gay-marriage movement, which has seen significant advances. Is the ban a sign of things to come, and what does it tell us about the historical relationship of gay bars to their neighborhoods and their clientele? Windy City Times spoke to the principal people involved and a historian of gay political life.

Gay pulp art print Gay Cruise vintage pulp paperback cover image 0

Academia Chicago Chronicles Queer Politics, Culture, and History Reporting

Daley double: Scholar talks local LGBTQ history

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date April 29, 2009

Chicago’s infamous machine politics is as much the stuff of lore as a reality of Chicago life. Richard J. Daley, most associated with the machine, was mayor from 1955 to 1976. His son, Richard M. Daley, has been mayor from 1989 to the present. Except for a period of 13 years in the interim, there has been a Daley in power since the mid-1950s. The issue of what differences, if any, mark the tenures of the two men has been the subject of several books.

Capitalism, Class, Inequality Film, Art, Television, and Media Gay Marriage Queer Politics, Culture, and History Race, Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

Gays All A-Twitter about Amazon: How They Nearly Ended Capitalism But Chose to Hate Porn Instead

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date April 16, 2009

Gay love and erotic content are opposed to PORN! BAD PORN! NAUGHTY PORN! DISGUSTING, VILE PORN!

Chicago Chronicles Reporting

Anti-gay charges leveled at police officer

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date April 8, 2009

Homophobia within the Chicago Police Department (CPD) has been an issue for several gay activists and attorneys of clients alleging homophobic slurs and misconduct by police officers. A recent press conference by, among others, Jon Erickson of Erickson & Oppenheimer Attorneys at Law, Gay Liberation Network and local activists spotlighted lawsuits recently filed against Officer Richard Fiorito, an officer at the the 23rd District police station at Addison and Halsted.

Gay Marriage Queer Politics, Culture, and History

I Support Gay Marriage

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date April 1, 2009

“What was really keeping me from fighting for gay marriage?”

Chicago Chronicles Immigration Reporting

Two-day confab focuses on immigrant issues

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date April 1, 2009

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) , a program of Heartland Alliance, hosted a conference on LGBT Immigration issues entitled ‘defending the Human Rights of LGBT and HIV-Positive Immigrants and Refugees.” The conference took place March 26-27. The conference took place at Northwestern University Law School, 357 E. Chicago Avenue (on the first day) and the law firm McDermott, Will and Emery, 227 W. Monroe (on the second day).

Chicago Chronicles Queer Politics, Culture, and History Reporting

LGBT elders make themselves heard

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date April 1, 2009

The Chicago Department of Senior Services is required to conduct annual citywide public hearings on the Area Plan on Aging. This public document is designed to describe how the Office of Senior Services will use funds from the Older Americans Act of 1965 and from the State of Illinois General Revenue Funds. Howard Brown recently conducted an LGBT Elder Needs Assessment, and the results were presented at a public forum at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, March 24. The event was organized by the Chicago Task Force on LGBT Aging and the SAGE Advisory Council.

Feminism Gay Marriage Queer Politics, Culture, and History Race, Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

The Kids Aren’t All Right: The Gay Marriage Movement and its Manipulation of Children and Youth

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date March 22, 2009

Is this what we want: young people whose self-worth is determined entirely by their romantic relationships?

Chicago Chronicles Queer Politics, Culture, and History Reporting

Frat comes out against Kansas church

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date March 18, 2009

The Westboro Baptist Church, headed by the notoriously anti-gay and right-wing Fred Phelps, made its way to the University of Chicago campus on March 9.

Chicago Chronicles Queer Politics, Culture, and History Reporting

UIC’s center hosts town hall

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date March 18, 2009

The Gender and Sexuality Center (GSC; formerly the Office of GLBT Concerns) at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) hosted a town hall March 12 to discuss its future directions and the search for a new director. The previous director, Patrick Finnessey, left in November and Liz Thomson was appointed interim director. Thomson has been keen to engage the larger LGBTQ community with the mission of GSC.