I often wonder what the “older generation” truly think about the Gay Pride parades that happen in countless cities around the world, especially in Pride Month: June.
Take, for instance, Art Johnston, 69, the owner of Sidetrack, the biggest gay bar in Chicago, an award-winning gay bar on the national scene, and a bar that LGBT around the world have heard about.
There was a time when gays had to sneak into Sidetrack, wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses, and raids on gay bars were commonplace. Johnston’s bar now has a new, snazzy look to the main bar—the same part of the bar that, well, was the bar back in the day. Of course Sidetrack has not always been the metropolis on Halsted Street it is now, capable of accommodating more than 1,200 patrons at any one time.
Then there’s Jon Phillips, 90, who had a high-profile, celebrity-filled life while working in the City of Chicago. I can’t imagine what Jon had to go through, and the stories he truly could tell, about gay life half-a-century ago.
The Stonewall Riots happened in … wait, I need to Google that, just to be certain of the year because, well, I’ll admit, I’m not 100 percent sure. In fact, even if $1 million was on the line, I couldn’t tell you exactly what happened at Stonewall.
I’m sure I’m not the only one lacking historical knowledge from the LGBT front.
That said, Stonewall was … nah, I’m not going to explain. How many who truly don’t know too much about Stonewall will spend five minutes—after reading this story—researching anything about Stonewall and its importance to the LGBT community?
After Stonewall there was, sadly, the HIV/AIDS era. I’ll never forget when Johnston once told me that he’s been to at least 200 HIV/AIDS-related funerals—and if I showed him one square-foot of carpet from a local funeral home, he likely could name the funeral home. So sad; that’s about all I can say because I truly cannot relate; I’m too young. But I certainly know and have heard about the wide-reaching impact HIV/AIDS has had—in Chicago, let alone around the world.
A few years back, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the first diagnosis of HIV, the Windy City Times ran a continuing series for 13 months, AIDS @ 30, with multiple HIV/AIDS-related stories every issue. It was an honor, not just an education for me, to write so many stories within that series. I can only hope others got as much out of that series as I did.
As mentioned, I’m too young to truly understand the impact of the HIV/AIDS era. I’m not even sure I know anyone personally who has died from the disease. About seven or eight years ago, I was in Honolulu on a regular basis, almost every month. I remember seeing a photo of a bartender hanging at the famous bar he worked at, so I asked if he moved off the islands and they were honoring him. Instead, I was shocked that this muscled, super-nice bartender died from HIV/AIDS. I didn’t even know he had the disease.
I still think about him every time I do something to help the HIV/AIDS community.
My biggest support of the AIDS community was through the Team To End AIDS (T2), the endurance-training program of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC). I joined T2 in 2007 to train for my first marathon. I joined because many Chicagoans told me it was an amazing program, then known as the National AIDS Marathon Training Program. I did not join T2 for the cause—supporting AFC—per se. I grew to become a staunch supporter for T2 and AFC, particularly because of people such as Mark Ishaug, David Munar and T2 coach Katie Schmid.
In five years, I was able to raise about $30,000 for AFC and couldn’t be prouder.
I have so many friends thanks to T2, not to mention countless memories that I never will forget.
Every spring the fundraising for T2 starts in full force. I truly hope those doing the fundraising for T2 and, ultimately, AFC understand why they are raising tens of thousands of dollars annually.
There also are hundreds set to participate in mid-July in the 10th annual Ride For AIDS Chicago, a 200-mile bicycle ride produced by the Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN), another dedicated organization serving the HIV/AIDS community.
Next up on my short walk through history is just that, a walk through the streets of Tel Aviv, as the hip, modern Israeli city held its 15th annual Gay Pride Parade on June 7. Tel Aviv’s Pride starts with a gathering in a grassy park outside the local gay community center. Thousands attended and what really caught my eye, and also the attention of other worldwide journalists covering this event, was the amount of youngsters in the crowd—likely high school and/or college-aged supporters of the rainbow, gay and straight. In addition to the park gathering, there was the parade, and then ultimately a beach party with a DJ—and the same thing was seen throughout the day in Tel Aviv: it was as if the Pride Parade was the place to be. Locals of all ages attended, and Tel Aviv Pride certainly has become a must-attend for gays from, literally, around the world.
Chicago will be under the rainbow spotlight on Sunday, June 30, and the way Pride has evolved in Chicago in recent years, no one should be surprised if city officials estimate 1 million people attend.
I’m sure Sidetrack’s Johnston will be among the masses, maybe even 90-year-old Phillips … and I truly wonder what they think about the progress made, and what’s still to come.
Ross Forman is a freelance writer for Windy City Times.