… allows people to be free to express themselves in a comfortable environment without being weird or different or goofy or whatever because being goofy is just fine. "The safe place for people really is sort of the essence of Berlin. People bring their parents," Schuman said. People unsure of their sexuality can feel safe and not embarrassed to have other people see them there. "Gay people can there with their straight friends, and their straight friends didn't feel uncomfortable. Schuman thinks the venue's longevity hinges on its "safe zone" atmosphere, where different people can feel accepted and no one is making judgments.
I think that's why it's been around for 30 years."īerlin has outlived most other bars in Boystown. "To me, that's what we were taught when you were younger, is that America is this place where you can be what you want to be … but you find these limitations as you get older … so when you find a place like that lives up to that belief that everyone is equal, it's awesome. I could just go there, be me, be accepted, and I don't think that's ever changed for Berlin," said Langston, 36. "I never felt like I had to hide anything. And despite its name, he said there's something "American" about it, a sentiment that other patrons echoed. Leather bars seem to be slowly receding into the past, but the Cell Block in Boystown is bringing it back, or trying to at least on its ever popular Furr. To him, it's Chicago's most diverse bar, where a variety of people of different ethnic backgrounds, from club kids to heavily tattooed weirdos, can hang out. He remembers a different Boystown that wasn't so diverse, but that's what he's always liked about Berlin. He goes about twice a week and always for the monthly MadonnaRama. Toma Langston is a longtime Berlin patron. Almost every night is a party, with weekly and monthly drag shows, music video dance parties, stand-up comedy and more. And much like a cabaret, the club's stage never goes to waste. The bar is home to many artists, including staff who are also photographers, musicians, painters and performers, who help curate the decor and other aspects of events.
While faces may have changed over the years, artist and alternative kids are still the mainstays. Webster started working at Berlin in 1984, and he and Schuman were close friends with the owners.
In 2012, the Legacy Project selected the unique rainbow pylons as the location for the first outdoor museum recognizing the significant world achievements and contributions of LGBTQ people.Īs of 2019, the pylons have been enhanced with 40 illuminated bronze plaques dedicated to historically important figures, including Frida Kahlo, Jane Addams, Sally Ride and Alan Turing. The plaques are mounted with stainless steel frames on the sidewalk-facing sides of each pylon and is known as the Legacy Walk, the world's only outdoor museum dedicated to LGBTQ history.Schuman and Jo Webster, business and life partners, took over the bar in 1995 after Sullivan died.
The 25-foot-tall pylons were designed and installed by architecture firm DeStefano+Partners as part of a series of streetscape projects under Mayor Richard M. Daley. They were officially dedicated in 1998. It was the first time a city government officially recognized an LGBTQ community. While visiting Boystown Chicago, it won’t take long to notice the 20 rainbow pylons that adorn "Chicago's proudest neighborhood." Boystown hosts a number of annual events - Chicago Pride Fest, the Chicago Pride Parade and Northalsted Market Days - drawing over one million people to the North Side neighborhood each summer. The neighborhood is also home to the Center on Halsted, the Midwest’s largest LGBTQ community center that welcomes over 1000 people per day. Broadway primarily offers a variety of themed shops and restaurants stretching throughout the neighborhood while Halsted caters to a lively nightlife with more than 30 different gay and lesbian bars, nightclubs and restaurants. Chicago’s newest queer bar and the latest addition to the country’s sadly waning lesbian bar population, Nobody’s Darling has emerged as a go-to. and Broadway dominate the heart of this commercial and entertainment district. The two main (north-south) avenues of Halsted St. Rainbow crosswalk rendering (credit: northalsted business alliance)īoystown is situated just southeast of Wrigleyville in Lakeview. The first officially recognized gay village in the United States, Boystown Chicago is the commonly accepted nickname for the eclectic East Lakeview neighborhood that is home to Chicago's visible and active gay and lesbian community.