Gold Coast (bar) explained

Gold Coast
Address:501 N Clark Street, Chicago, IL
Opened Date:1960
Owner:Chuck Renslow
Building Type:Gay bar, Leather bar
Closing Date:1988
Relocated Date:1962, 1965, 1967, 1984

Gold Coast was a leather bar for gay men in Chicago that operated from 1960 to 1988. It was one of the first bars created by and for the gay leather community in the United States.[1] [2] [3] For most of its 28 year history, between 1967 and 1984, the bar was located at 501 North Clark Street adjacent to Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood.[4] This was also the period of its legendary basement, called The Pit. It was one of several gay businesses owned and operated by Chuck Renslow. The bar's founding led to the establishment of other gay businesses nearby, creating a kind of "gay district" in the area.[5]

History

The original location of the then-named Gold Coast Show Lounge was 1130 North Clark Street. A group of Chicago leathermen, including Chuck Renslow and Dom Orejudos, had been meeting there regularly as patrons since 1959. After the death of the original owner in the same year, his son offered the bar for sale. Renslow, Herbie Schmidt and Art Marotta bought the bar so as not to lose the meeting place for the emerging gay leather scene.[6]

The bar opened under the new shortened name Gold Coast on March 15, 1960. After a significant rent increase, the bar moved to 1110 North Clark Street in 1962.[7] There, the bar had a "2 am" liquor license which permitted it to serve alcohol but required it to close by 2 am.

In 1965, the bar moved to 2265 North Lincoln Avenue; it relocated to 501 North Clark Street in 1967.[8] [9]

The bar was known for its "hardcore" leather culture,[10] and did not pay for a dancing license because the owners felt their clientele would not be interested in dancing.[11] Renslow paid bribes to police to prevent the bar from being raided, although this still occurred occasionally.[12]

Dom Orejudos (widely known by his alias "Etienne"), who was Renslow's partner,[13] created numerous posters and artworks for the Gold Coast. Together with Chuck Arnett, Orejudos also created the bar's famous murals.[14] [15] Renslow donated much of this art to the Leather Archives & Museum, some of which is on display in the museum's auditorium.[16] [17]

1969, a leather and sex toy shop opened in the bar's basement, selling hankies, leather goods like harnesses, vests, slings and chaps, as well as sex toys, called the Leather Cell. It later became Male Hide Leathers, one of the first gay leather shops.[18]

From 1972 on, the bar hosted an annual "Mr. Gold Coast" pageant, with John Lunning as the first winner.[19] In 1979, the contest was rebranded as International Mr. Leather, which continues to this day.[20] [21] In 1984, the bar relocated to 5025 N Clark Street in Andersonville; it was sold one year later to Frank Kellas in exchange for stocks of the GayLife newspaper.[22] [23] The bar closed permanently on February 10, 1988, after its liquor license was revoked. Prior to this, it had declined in popularity due in part to the relocation and to changes in management.

Cultural impact and legacy

According to Dazed, "the importance of bars like the Gold Coast stemmed from more than mere fetish; LGBTQ+ communities have always had their sex lives heavily policed and often criminalised. This wasn’t just about fetish or fucking – in a pre-Stonewall age in particular, these rare spaces were about freedom."[24]

On May 25, 2018, the Chicago City Council voted to designate the eastern stretch of Clark Street between Winnemac Ave and Ainslie Ave—the historic location of the Gold Coast, Man's Country, and other businesses owned by Renslow—as "CHUCK RENSLOW WAY."[25] [26]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2017-06-30 . Remembering Chicago Leatherman Chuck Renslow . 2023-10-01 . WBEZ Chicago . en.
  2. Web site: Goldsborough . Bob . 2017-06-30 . Chuck Renslow, Chicago gay community icon and International Mr. Leather contest founder, dies at 87 . 2023-10-01 . Chicago Tribune.
  3. Web site: 2017-06-18 . A Conversation About Chicago's Boystown . 2023-10-01 . WBEZ Chicago . en.
  4. Web site: Our History . 2023-10-01 . Man's Country Chicago.
  5. Book: Baim, Tracy . Leatherman: the legend of Chuck Renslow . Keehnen . Owen . Kelley . William B. . Harper . Jorjet . 2011 . Prairie Avenue Productions . 978-1-4610-9602-3 . 1st . Chicago . 125-128 . 728063271.
  6. Book: Baim, Tracy . Leatherman: the legend of Chuck Renslow . Keehnen . Owen . Kelley . William B. . Harper . Jorjet . 2011 . Prairie Avenue Productions . 978-1-4610-9602-3 . 1st . Chicago . 88-89 . 728063271.
  7. Book: Baim, Tracy . Leatherman: the legend of Chuck Renslow . Keehnen . Owen . Kelley . William B. . Harper . Jorjet . 2011 . Prairie Avenue Productions . 978-1-4610-9602-3 . 1st . Chicago . 89-91 . 728063271.
  8. Book: Baim, Tracy . Leatherman: the legend of Chuck Renslow . Keehnen . Owen . Kelley . William B. . Harper . Jorjet . 2011 . Prairie Avenue Productions . 978-1-4610-9602-3 . 1st . Chicago . 98-101 . 728063271.
  9. Web site: Croix . Sukie de la . 2003-05-21 . International Mr. Leather Hits 25th Anniversary . 2024-07-03 . . en-US.
  10. Book: Wagner, R. Richard . Coming Out, Moving Forward: Wisconsin's Recent Gay History . 2020-05-22 . . 978-0-87020-928-4 . 93 . en.
  11. Book: Baim, Tracy . Leatherman: the legend of Chuck Renslow . Keehnen . Owen . Kelley . William B. . Harper . Jorjet . 2011 . Prairie Avenue Productions . 978-1-4610-9602-3 . 1st . Chicago . 128-130 . 728063271.
  12. Book: Stewart-Winter, Timothy . Queer Clout: Chicago and the Rise of Gay Politics . 2016-02-16 . . 978-0-8122-4791-6 . 24 . en.
  13. Book: Baim, Tracy . Leatherman: the legend of Chuck Renslow . Keehnen . Owen . Kelley . William B. . Harper . Jorjet . 2011 . Prairie Avenue Productions . 978-1-4610-9602-3 . 1st . Chicago . 728063271.
  14. Web site: Lock . Jack . Dom Orejudos aka "Etienne" . 2023-10-01 . . en-US.
  15. Web site: Evans Frantz . David . Dress Codes: Chuck Arnett & Sheree Rose . 2024-07-08 . ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries.
  16. Web site: The Etienne Auditorium . 2023-10-01 . . en-us . 2023-11-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231129055653/https://leatherarchives.org/the-etienne-auditorium . dead .
  17. Web site: Keehnen . Owen . 2016-05-25 . Leather Archives & Museum turns 25 . 2023-10-01 . Windy City Times.
  18. Book: Baim, Tracy . Leatherman: the legend of Chuck Renslow . Keehnen . Owen . Kelley . William B. . Harper . Jorjet . 2011 . Prairie Avenue Productions . 978-1-4610-9602-3 . 1st . Chicago . 105 . 728063271.
  19. Book: Baim, Tracy . Leatherman: the legend of Chuck Renslow . Keehnen . Owen . Kelley . William B. . Harper . Jorjet . 2011 . Prairie Avenue Productions . 978-1-4610-9602-3 . 1st . Chicago . 109 . 728063271.
  20. Web site: 2017-06-29 . Legendary Chicago businessman, activist Chuck Renslow dies - Windy City Times News . 2023-10-01 . Windy City Times.
  21. Web site: Chuck Renslow . 2023-10-01 . Chicago Gay History.
  22. Web site: de la Croix . Sukie . 2000-09-27 . Gary Chichester: A Remarkable Life . 2024-01-08 . Windy City Times.
  23. Book: Baim, Tracy . Leatherman: the legend of Chuck Renslow . Keehnen . Owen . Kelley . William B. . Harper . Jorjet . 2011 . Prairie Avenue Productions . 978-1-4610-9602-3 . 1st . Chicago . 129 . 728063271.
  24. Web site: Hall . Jake . 2018-02-21 . The pioneering gay erotica artist who inspired JW Anderson’s new collection . 2024-07-14 . . en.
  25. Web site: Record No. O2018-3236 . November 7, 2023 . City of Chicago, Office of the City Clerk.
  26. Web site: 2018-05-07 . Chuck Renslow street dedication May 19 - Windy City Times News . 2023-11-08 . Windy City Times.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gold Coast (bar)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.