The exhibition is constructed around four thematic tent-poles reflecting major chronological and historical issues in Chicago’s LGBT past. “This exhibit is a unique and timely opportunity to interpret our knowledge based on historical expertise, and making what we know as scholars and researchers available to the public,” said Jennifer Brier, co-curator of the exhibition.īilled as the first gay history project of its kind ever produced by an urban museum, Out in Chicago opens May 21 and explores more than 150 years of urban history, including the period before the terms lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender were commonly used. Previously these communities could only be traced as far back as the 1920s-but according to a recently uncovered ordinance from 1851 that prohibited openly dressing in opposite gender clothing, its clear these communities have been part of the Windy City’s DNA since its inception.
Looks like we’ve been here-and we’ve been queer-since the city of Chicago was founded in the 1850s, according to the curators of “ Out in Chicago,” a new, expansive LGBT-related exhibit at the Chicago History Museum. The Gold Coast bar opened in 1958, making Chicago the first city in the country to have a leather bar. Oil Painting Mural from Gold Coast bar, 1973, by Dom “Etienne” Orejudos.
