Out in Chicago

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  BetterLight digital scan back capture, 1930.26, Tue Jun 19, 2007, 12:27:26 PM, 8C, 4412x7554, (806+446), 100%, Repro 2.2 v2, 1/15 s, R78.0, G60.8, B83.8

  Photo Courtesy: CHM325.ga.ga.op.ade.jpg147659271
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  couch, CHM, Out in Chicago, Jane Addams

  Photo Courtesy: CHM325.ga.ga.op.couch.jpg147659292
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  Composite of 4 panels of painting, 2007.80.1a-d

  Photo Courtesy: CHM325.ga.ga.op.goldcoast.jpg147659313
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  scan from 4X5 color transparency1971.140. Portrait of Jane Addams. pre-flood

  Chicago History Museum325.ga.ga.op.janeadams.jpg147659334
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  scan from original newspaper

  Chicago History Museum325.ga.ga.op.lavender.jpg147659355
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  Dykes on Bikes

  Photo Courtesy: Debby Rijos325.ga.ga.op.motorcycle.jpg147659376
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  Chicago Pride Parade 2010

  Photo Courtesy: CHM325.ga.ga.op.parade2010.jpg147659397
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BetterLight digital scan back capture, 1930.26, Tue Jun 19, 2007, 12:27:26 PM, 8C, 4412x7554, (806+446), 100%, Repro 2.2 v2, 1/15 s, R78.0, G60.8, B83.8

Photo Courtesy: CHM

05/16/2011

Cross-dressing pioneers, South Side drag balls and even gay money! Chicago’s queer history is—dare we say?—fabulous. On Friday 20, the Chicago History Museum unveils “Out in Chicago,” a sprawling new exhibition kicking off with a preview party featuring live performances by FurrLesque and beats by DJ Charlie. The exhibition is ongoing through March 26, 2012. Here’s what not to miss:

1. LGBT at the Crossroads This first area introduces visitors to clothing worn by our community historically and today to convey a sense of ourselves and our sexual desire, such as a leathermen's outfit or a proper suit and dress worn by a modern-day Latina butch/femme couple.
• Ouch! Scientists once believed that LGBT people had differently shaped bodies and that instruments like this penis clamp (see slideshow) would offer information about sexual deviants.
• In early Chicago, cross-dressing was a serious offense and came with a steep fine equal to $500 in today’s adjusted dollars. Don't miss an original book of law, illustrating the seriousness of early gender deviance and dating back to 1856, the year the Chicago Historical Society formed.

2. Are You Family? Though perhaps not lesbians the way we think of gay women today, Jane Addams and Mary Rozet Smith were constant companions and built a life among women. This original couch from Addams’s Hull House (see slideshow) comes from the CHM’s permanent collection.
• Step into a re-created 1970s family room where a series of 12 vignettes showcases the ways in which LGBT people create our own definition of family. One vignette, for example, features activist Vernita Gray discussing Renae Ogletree’s advocacy work with queer youth.
• The lives of LGBT youth often consist of closed doors. Look for a locked door; when its knob is touched, it activates a narrative from The Home Project by About Face Theatre.

3. In the Life This section focuses on queers in public spaces and includes the CHM’s collection of print culture like this original copy of Lavender Woman (see slideshow), a lesbian, feminist periodical started in Chicago in 1971.
• An original rubber stamp is part of bar owner Marge Summit’s Gay $ Project, which marked paper currency as coming from gays and lesbians to showcase the purchasing power of the LGBT community.
• Check out a costume ensemble from the Chicago Kings, a performance group from the aughties that flaunted gender variance.
• Part of this section focuses on Chicago’s queer jazz legacy—including Ma Rainey and pianist Tony Jackson.
• A painting (see slideshow) of satirist George Ade and his partner Orson Welles (named after the director) is displayed with a decoder for visitors to determine how many ways the artwork is queer.
• This mural (see slideshow) is the largest artifact in the exhibition and comes from Chuck Renslow’s Gold Coast bar, the first leather establishment in the United States.

4. Queers Mobilize Chicago In this section on LGBT politics, be on the lookout for bands of painted ribbons and watch how they merge together to form the colors of Pride.
• This motorcycle (see slideshow) comes from Debby Rijos, the current leader of Dykes on Bikes; her aunt started the group in Chicago in the 1980s.

“Out in Chicago” opens Friday 20.