“Across the country, LGBTQ Americans turned to bars and nightlife to provide an escape from pervasive prejudice, and to carve out spaces of their own,” Patrick Sisson wrote in a 2016 Curbed article examining the history of gay bars.
Notably, gay bars not only developed as entertainment venues for the LGBT+ community, but also as essential community spaces and activism grounds as the LGBT+ movement grew. The LGBT+ community in Chicago also began opening its first health centers, community centers, and bars at the beginning of the ‘70s, increasingly coalescing around the area that would eventually be known as Boystown.Īs WBEZ described, the modern-day boundaries of Boystown really began to take root in the 1980s, as a variety of gay bars began to pop up along the neighborhood’s now-famous Halsted Street. The aforementioned Stonewall Uprising of 1969 helped spark some of this activism and, a year afterward - in 1970 - Chicago hosted its first-ever pride parade, Chicago magazine noted. Activism at Its RootsĪs LGBT+ communities and individuals were being pushed out of various Chicago neighborhoods in the ‘60s, LGBT+ activism – which derived at least partially out of response to discriminatory treatment from police, politicians, and other city officials, was simultaneously on the rise. However, “slowly, as rents went up and other things happened, the community was forced out," Baim reported. As Tracy Baim, a gay historian and founder of the Windy City Times, described to the outlet, “in the ‘60s gay communities were scattered around the city, with many of the communities … centered around downtown, River North, and Tower Town in the mid part of the last century.” Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood, including the Lake View communities of Triangle Neighbors and Belmont Harbor, was also home to many members of the city’s LGBT+ community in the ‘60s and early ‘70s, the Encyclopedia of Chicago noted. Notably, the modern-day Boystown neighborhood resulted after the LGBT+ community was pushed out of other neighborhoods in Chicago in the 1960s, WBEZ reported. Following the conclusion of this year’s pride, reflecting on how Boystown was created offers insight into the neighborhood’s unique history – and the challenges and opportunities it faces as it looks to the future.Ĭhicago’s Boystown was officially recognized as the city’s gay district in 1997, though the neighborhood was rich with LGBT+ history for many years prior. Many pride activities are held in LGBT+ neighborhoods, including in Chicago’s Boystown – first-ever gay neighborhood that was officially recognized by a large city. Every June, cities around the world hold pride festivals and parades to honor the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising – the 1969 protests that are often considered the launching point of the modern gay rights movement.
Warnings:Occasional straights, walk past by accident when they are walking along, its the only gay place on the island.Pride month is one full of both celebration and commemoration for the LGBT+ community.
Nudity / Policy:Yes / It's a clothing optional beach.Hours:Mostly all day if sunny until sun-set.Ĭruisiest Spots: As far as you can go left of Kalamaki beach.The second beach, on the left hand dside, easily accessible by swimming or by following a path, is used by naturists. Directions:As you go through Kalamaki, stay straight ahead past the Down Under bar, upto the T-junction, where the Taxis Park.At that Junction turn right, that takes you into the old part of Kalamki.You will see a resturant called the Temple, beside it is a slip road with lamp posts running up it all the way to the cave bar, There is also a big sign there, which says the cave bar on the side of the hill, its that big you can not miss it, you will even see it from the T-Junction.Go up to the cave bar and take the dirt track on the left, pass the small farm building, and follow the track, which takes you along the cliff top, if you are in a car park in one of the clearings at the top, but if you are on a big, you can drive right down the dirt track to a little clearing close to the beach.Crowd:Younger and older guys, some English, German, Greek etc.