As a celebration of 43 years of providing entertainment and serving the LGBTQ+ community, Sidetrack owners Art Johnston and José “Pepe” Peña threw a birthday bash for their establishment at 3349 N. Halsted St. on June 12. The event not only marked the opening of the bar in 1982, but also the re-booting of GroceryLand which very recently survived a forced closure. The event featured catered treats, a raffle presided over by performer J Boy and hours of curated videos.
As guests munched on sushi and sliders, co-owner Johnston took the stage and said, “A survey from two weeks ago said that Chicago is the best city for LGBTQ people to live in. Every week my bartenders tell me about people who move here from Texas or Kentucky, or from out of state… They come here to get quality medical care. … They come here to get treated well.”
Johnston, who was flanked by his life partner and co-owner Peña and Sidetrack General Manager Brad Balof said, “Our community does not lose…and that’s not just my big fat mouth talking, that’s the way it is. The Chicago we all created is the best city in America.”
Addressing the current administration, Johnston closed by saying, “Creating this community and city was not easy but the fight is upon us…again. We won before and we’ll win again.”
On Halsted Street at Sidetrack’s front door, activist Lori Cannon and a group of volunteers and supporters greeted people and collected supplies for GroceryLand in the first public effort to re-start the organization. The organization provides food and necessities for people living with and/or affected by HIV.
In an earlier interview with Windy City Times Cannon said, “To me, this represents the resurrection—the official comeback of GroceryLand. And who better than the Sidetrack family to partner with us on this? They’ve been at the forefront of every major success, movement, and opportunity for us. And they’re doing it not just for GroceryLand, but for countless others.”
Sidetrack has grown from a one room bar with a single television set, concrete floors and beer cases for chairs into a two story, 15,000 square foot space that spans eight storefronts, six public rooms, four bars and a rooftop deck.
Johnston, and Peña have done far more than create a successful business. Long after most of the gay bars along Halsted Street between Belmont Avenue and Grace Street (including Little Jim’s, Christopher Street, The Bushes, L.A. Connection, The Manhole, SPIN and Buck’s Saloon) have closed, Sidetrack prospered and served as a business hub for the LGBTQ+ community, frequently hosting benefits, activist events and providing innumerable donations of goods, money and services for years.
Organizations that Sidetrack has hosted include AIDS Care Network; ALMA Center on Halsted; Gerber/Hart Archives and Library; Amigas Latinas; AIDS Legal Council of Chicago; Dignity Chicago; Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois; Equality Illinois; About Face Theater, Asians and Friends – Chicago; Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association; Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; and Congregation Or Chadish.
Among the political figures who were able to campaign and meet the LGBTQ+ Community at Sidetrack include Illinois State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka; former Mayor Richard M. Daley; former Cook County Board President John Stroger; former U.S. Senator (and future U.S. President) Barack Obama; commentator and former political operative George Stephanopoulos; U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky; and former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank.
