Chicago Pride might be coming right off the tarmac for O’Hare visitors soon. One of Chicago’s most popular gay bars could be coming to O’Hare International Airport—it’d be the first gay bar at any airport in the country.
Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted St., owned by Art Johnston and José “Pepe” Peña, is collaborating with Germán González Rico to bring the bar to Terminal 1 at one of the country’s biggest airports.
O’Hare is the world’s 8th busiest airport, with 80 million passengers flying in and out in 2023. González, a hospitality entrepreneur, told the Chicago Tribune it’d be the “perfect billboard” for Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community.
“Making aware younger generations, but also the general population, of those struggles we went through, I think it’s very important,” he told the Tribune’s Laura Washington.
Recently, Chicago has situated itself as a sanctuary city for LGBTQ+ Americans. With states limiting healthcare for transgender individuals, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker has mandated insurance coverage for trans healthcare and enacted a law mandating the teaching of LGBTQ+ history in Illinois schools.
But the Windy City hasn’t always been a beacon of queer liberation. In 1964, Louie’s Fun Lounge, a now classed gay bar located in Leyden Township near O’Hare Airport, faced a police raid. Patrons, who included teachers and school officials, had their names and addresses printed in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Daily News.
“Subsequently there were reports of job losses and a rumored suicide,” wrote Marie J. Juda, a reporter for the Windy City Times, in 2008.
Johnston recalled his own run-in with the police in 1984, to CBS News, right outside of Sidetrack.
“I had a cop, who said to me, ‘Are you the f***ing f** who owns this f***ing f** bar?'” Johnston said. “And he said, ‘We got too many f*** in this part of town. I’m shutting you down.’ And he threw me in jail.”
The last police raid in Chicago on an LGBTQ+ establishment was in 1985. Now, a gay bar might be getting center stage on one of America’s busiest runways.
David Rosen, a long time patron, first stepped into Sidetrack in 1991. “Showtunes got me in the door,” he said, recalling the nights when Dolly Parton’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Patti LuPone’s Evita filled the bar.
Rosen said there’s a simple reason why he keeps coming back, and stated what he’ll look forward to hopefully at O’Hare.
“I love the vibe, I love the energy, I love the atmosphere,” he said.
Travelers might have to wait a bit before catching a Drag Race performance before takeoff. The bid to have a spot in O’Hare is very coveted, entailing a months-long process—there’s no guarantee that Sidetrack will be picked.
Still, new patrons like Rowan Culotta, 21, said they’re excited for Chicago to potentially be the first.
“Chicago is the hub for international travel, so why not be the hub for international change?”