Gay bars champaign il
‘Fractured’ and ‘disconnected,’ CU homosexual community seeks specific spaces
‘Support groups are not enough’: CU’s queer community works for more cohesion
CHAMPAIGN — Despite feeling like “there’s no shortage of gay people in Champaign,” result the LGBTQ community in Champaign-Urbana wasn’t easy for 21-year-old Arden Hatch when she moved here in 2020 and came out as a trans woman.
“I think the community feels very disconnected,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know each other.”
She says a big part of why it took so long to attach with others in the LGBTQ community was the lack of specific spaces for queer events or even just to gather.
“There’s no place we can go and just be ourselves with other people,” Hatch said.
Eventually, she start Uniting Pride of Champaign County, which hosts various support groups and occasional events. Though she said she’s grateful for everything the organization does and she now volunteers with the non-profit, Uniting Celebration didn’t completely fulfill her needs.
“Support groups are not enough to foster a unified sense of homosexual community in Champaign,
The Balloon Saloon
In Pride 1974, U of I Professor Jack Adam and his partner Bill Burke opened C-U's first openly gay block, The Balloon Saloon, located at 317 N. Fremont St., Champaign. The exclude was an instant success popular with gay men, same-sex attracted women, drag queens, and drag kings. They were expose 7 days a week, had a live DJ, and would host flamboyant performances, such as a Miss Champaign contest in 1975 that featured "a couple dozen kingly queens from all around the state" ("Where gays can feel unfettered", Daily Illini, July 8, 1975).
By 1975, The Balloon Saloon became a known hotspot for gay people around the Midwest, with out-of-towners traveling from St. Louis and Indianapolis to go there. One patron said "Champaign is the biggest gay scene in this part of the Midwest, outside of Chicago. Springfield used to be a big scene, but it's died out. Now everyone comes here."
People would gather to attach out, celebrate holidays and birthdays, and organize performances at The Balloon Saloon. There were people who would obtain into drag specifically to perform at the bar, and people would also get into performative just for the fun of dressing up with their friends.
One year after
63 Chester Street: theBar
From 1978 to 2017, 63 Chester Street in Champaign was home to two prominent LGBTQ spaces that were known throughout the Midwest scene: theBar and Chester Street.
On Easter Day in 1978, theBar opened at 63 Chester Street, under the ownership of Joe McNamara, Tim White, and Mike Small, all of whom were former employees at Giovanni's, a trendy Champaign gay bar. Joe McNamara became the sole owner of theBar within the first limited months. When it opened, theBar advertised a full restaurant, a side room bar, a disco, and a game room.
theBar's identify came from the coded language that gay people would often use when talking about a gay bar. Instead of talking about going to "the lgbtq+ bar," people would say "the bar."theBar's name was a coded way of telling others it was a safe place for gay men, lesbians, and other queer people to meet up with others and socialize.
With disco rising in popularity, it was popular to have a live DJ. Joe was inspired by discotheques such as Studio 54 and aspired to change theBar into Champaign's own disco spot that could compete with the extravagance of the larger cities' bars. As his reside DJ, Joe hired Doug Barne
Suffice it to state, 63 Chester Road should have been placed on the American Registry of Historic Places years ago, certainly before all the devastating “renovations” and arson and collapse that stripped it of its unique nature. Then again, for the longest moment Chester Street east of the Illinois Central Railroad wasn’t considered part of downtown Champaign, despite being one block from Illinois Terminal. Perhaps that is why it was rarely appreciated by the City of Champaign, even during its downtown revitalization efforts.
Now it is gone, destroyed.
Such a loss was doubly impactful with Monday, June 28 marking exactly 52 years since the Stonewall rebellion in Recent York City — a tipping signal for the lgbtq+ liberation movement.
Maybe in some profound way, the confluence of this event and the Stonewall anniversary is meant to signal a fresh beginning. I can only hope, however, that we never forget the remarkable experiences that thousands upon thousands of residents and visitors enjoyed at the historic landmark recognizable as 63 Chester Street, Champaign, Illinois.