Tom Tunney (44th), who is gay, paid notice. In 2003, the city paved over the Belmont Rocks, and Keehnen posted on Facebook bemoaning this loss. From sun-tanning to having picnic lunches, the limestone blocks offered a safe place for queer Chicagoans to congregate. The Belmont Rocks lining the lakefront between Diversey Harbor and Belmont Harbor were a place for forging and solidifying friendships in the LGBTQ community, says Keehnen, 60, who lives in Rogers Park. They were simply so important because, if there isn’t a place for community to happen, community doesn’t happen.” AIDS Garden 3003 N.
“It’s not just to drink and pick people up. Since the early days of Boystown, the bars and nightlife that can be found along Halsted Street and nearby have been a magnet for LGBTQ people, according to Keehnen. Halsted St., and Sidetrack Chicago, 3349 N. Within a couple of blocks are other longstanding nightlife handouts Roscoe’s Tavern, 3356 N.
Halsted St., a tavern in the heart of Boystown that recently was sold that’s a landmark in the neighborhood. Running generally from the lake to west of Clark Street between Irving Park Road and Diversey Avenue, it’s where you can find some of the oldest and best-known gay bars in Chicago.Īmong them: Little Jims, 3501 N. A hub of gay-owned businesses and bustling nightlife, the heavily LGBTQ North Side neighborhood known as Boystown received the city's official designation as a gay village in 1997.
