Is Chicago ready for a Guerrilla Gay Bar resurgence? Organizers of Chicago Take Over (CTO)-a floating LGBTQ party that will commandeer a straight bar once a month-are confident the social experiment, which blends a group of gay people with their unsuspecting straight allies, is ready for a comeback.
The Guerrilla Gay Bar concept-the moniker is a tongue-in-cheek reference to covert warfare tactics-has roots in Chicago, including the Guerrilla Gay Bar South Loop, which launched in 2009 before fizzling out two years later, and the Big Gay Cocktail Club (BGCC), which debuted in 1999. The BGCC, which hosted monthly cocktail parties at the Peninsula Hotel, Luxbar and other venues, has been curiously inactive over the last couple of years with the exception of a Gay Pride-themed boat cruise in June.
"The Guerrilla Gay Bar South Loop was just primarily for men," said CTO co-founder Troy Karnoff, 46, of Rogers Park. "And I think the Big Gay Cocktail Club attracts mostly men as well. At CTO events, we want lesbians, bi-curious, gay, straight-we want everyone to feel welcome," said Karnoff, who also organizes the Big Gay Brunch Club, a roving LGBTQ networking group that has been meeting over Sunday brunch at various venues since 2009.
"We are honoring what the Guerrilla Gay Bar South Loop started," said Tim Liu, 50, a co-founder of CTO and a resident of the South Loop. "In fact, the location for the first event will be familiar to that group's devotees-it's a nod to the tradition they established."
The inaugural CTO event will take place Thursday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. in a South Loop bar that will be revealed 24 hours in advance via social media.
"We think the secret location aspect helps bolster excitement," said Ryan O'Malley, 27, an Uptown resident and a CTO co-founder. "We're not even revealing to the venue who we are, we're only telling them that they might want to staff up because a big group will be descending on their establishment at a certain day and time."
While the Guerrilla Gay Bar South Loop was tethered to a specific neighborhood and the Big Gay Cocktail Club favored the swank appeal of downtown and River North establishments, the CTO plans to host Guerrrilla Gay Bar events in virtually every Chicago neighborhood. The CTO's name and logo, whipped up after a few bottles of wine, is inspired by the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) branding, emphasizing the group's aim to "take over" bars and lounges in locales easily accessed by public transit.
"Our goal is to get the community to better know their city and all of its unique neighborhoods," said O'Malley, who created the logo. "We're looking to connect the city the way the CTA does."
"The CTO is a way to reach out to the LGBTQ community who live all over Chicago," said Karnoff. "Not everyone lives in Lakeview, and founders of this group are an example of that."
Another gay bar takeover concept, the Welcoming Committee, is also launching in October-National LGBT History Month. O'Malley said the CTO roll-out was scheduled, in part, to honor LGBT heritage, and that enhanced visibility of this community-no matter which group is hosting an event- is important, particularly in October.
"The Welcoming Committee is a group that is expanding to other cities around the U.S., while CTO is homegrown with a specific focus on Chicago," said O'Malley. "Is there room for all of us? Absolutely. I think visibility is very important for our community, not just in Boystown but in all areas of Chicago."
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