For my first go-around at passing for 39, I spent a lot of time in Chicago fancying I was a new face. Especially if the bar lighting was Gloria Swanson dim, the hour late, the leftover pickings just short of panic and desperation.
But back then when disco was queen, I was having fun in a city that made the most of the so-called Sexual Revolution following Vietnam 1968. (Paying the piper came later, for both straights and gays.)
When Bicentennial Fourth of July 1976 rolled around, I wanted to party. I was met at the train station by a guy I had cruised weeks before at the legendary Gold Coast Bar. Though I'm not especially macho or tailor-made for leather chaps, Billy — years younger and a chamber music player — convinced himself otherwise.
As I was unable to play bedroom bass fiddle to his solo violin, it was all ritardando, no crescendos, no repeat performances. But he met me at the station that star-spangled weekend with high spirits, misguided hope and a thermos of martinis, which helped.
I spent the holiday with him, saw glorious fireworks, held hands on the Lawson YMCA rooftop, ate gourmet food, and partied with newfound friends. I returned home patriotic, happy, hungover. But I never saw Billy again. (My shortcoming, not his.) If still alive he'd be in his 60s.
My memory was jogged recently by a very rare copy of "Rapping Paper: For and About Gay Mid America" (June 1976; $1.50) given to me by an acting devotee/friend, Dan Ferrier. The cover features a bare-chested, Afro-haired Mr. Windy City, named Harry Shattuck, and salutes Gay Pride Week. (MoTown item: Gather June 26 at Cass Park. Rally at Kennedy Square. Dance for two bucks at Cobo Hall.)
Thirteen Detroit bars are listed; 10 Gay Lib organizations. Chicago bars, 36. Ann Arbor, one: The Flame. Here's a news item sampler:
– On the 1976 Supreme Court Decision upholding Virginia's Sodomy Law: "The American Psychiatric Association agrees that, much as with heterosexuals, gays and lesbians cannot easily alter their sexual orientation. Sodomy laws offer no alternative but celibacy or criminality. APA officially favors legalization of homosexual behavior between consenting adults."
– Detroit: "The Association of Suburban People (an early Michigan gay/lesbian civil rights organization) has been formed as a result of police harassment of gays along Hines Parkway. Over 85 men were arrested since November 1975. ASP will be particularly happy to receive information about efforts in other states."
– Op-Ed: "One reason people are disenchanted with religion is its apparent separation from central life issues of which sexuality is one. Church leaders do recognize this and see the sexual revolution not as a sign of the end but as an opportunity for renewal. In this context gays are not badgering outsiders but are instead implementing change and renewal from within."
– President Gerald Ford: "I always try to be an understanding person as far as people are concerned. That doesn't mean I necessarily agree with what (homosexuals) want politically. Theirs is a problem we all have to face. I can't give pat answers."
– Chicago: "Across from the Gold Coast, the Machine Shop greases and grinds 24 hours, seven days, to fulfill your every desire for entire entertainment (with, please note, fistfuls of 25-cent tokens)."
– "Good-looking, well built and hung, masculine white dude in 30s seeking young stud for long-lasting relationship and sex. I'm sincere and not type to run ad. PO Box 87."
Hindsight query: But Box 87, do you have access to a viable pension plan if I qualify?
