|
|
|
|  |
Gay teenagers in the late 1940s and '50s came out cruising. Composer Ned Rorem ( 1923— ) walked the lakefront parks with a suggestive book in hand; Michael Shimandle ( 1945—2004 ) was told by guys who picked him up to put on a suit and tie to look older ( he would later own gay bars, such as Bushes ) ; Guy Warner, former Mattachine Midwest president and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays/Chicago founder, made his connections at Far South Side movie theaters. Letters tell of meeting partners at downtown theaters and ushers at Orchestra Hall. In the '60s the tacky Clark Theatre at 11 N. Clark St. and Monroe Theatre at 57 W. Monroe St. were popular rendezvous, along with a few others in the Loop, on the Near North Side and in outlying neighborhoods.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
