Sometimes you have to go to extremes to find what you’re looking for. It’s the furthest north you can go and still be in Chicago.
Many of Chicago’s manliest men have moved up the lake to Rogers Park. Provincetown’s shop for serious fetish men has opened a branch there.
Another place you’ll want to check out in Uptown is Full Kit Gear. You might find geared guys there on weekend evenings, before they head out to cruisier spots. You can get your fur trimmed by the beard experts at Father & Son Barber Shop in nearby Magnolia Glen.īetween Boystown and Andersonville, the SoFo Tap in Uptown is a fetish-friendly neighborhood bar. Chicago’s bears have migrated up to Andersonville. Into the 21st century, the rents keep going up and the boys keep heading further north. After some hardcore cruising, head down Halsted a few blocks to Steamworks, Boystown’s bathhouse.
A strict dress code is enforced for CODE night first Saturdays. But that doesn’t mean you won’t find gear freaks there too. These days, Boystown is where you’re likely to find twinks and circuit kweenz. Boystown was the first officially recognized “gay village” in the States. In the case of Chicago, it was further up the lake to Lincoln Park area, where you can still find fun at the Manhandler Saloon.Įventually, the gay boys planted their freak flag further north in the neighborhood now known as Boystown. As rents go up, the gays flee for more affordable neighborhoods. The place was flooded with gay bars where horny guys could meet. By the Swinging ‘60s, Old Town was the place to be for gay men. Just a bit further up Lake Michigan, American’s first gay rights organization, the Society for Human Rights, was founded in Old Town in 1925.
In the Roaring ‘20s, homos starting congregating in the bohemian spots of Tower Town, now known as the Magnificent Mile. It’s actually been shifting north over the past several decades.
But you have to go further north to find Chicago’s gay center of gravity. But how much do you really know about gay Chicago? Most of the action at IML takes place in central Chicago at the Congress Hotel. International Rubber takes place in Chicago in November. Leather takes place in Chicago every May. Sure, you probably know International Mr.