With the dust still settling after the forced closure of Forest Park’s last gay bar, The Hideaway, 7301 W. Roosevelt Rd. in April, and in light of the earlier demise of The Nutbush, in Forest Park, and the fiery (as in arson) close of Oak Park’s Velvet Rope, bartender Mike Jimenez isn’t ready to give up the ghost yet.
The former Forest Park resident now lives in Berwyn and he is looking for a local resurrection of the gay bar scene in the near west suburbs. Until then, there is still the proverbial last gay bar standing and that’s Antronio’s Bar and Grill, 6319 W. Roosevelt Rd. in Berwyn.
In 2007 Entrepreneur magazine put gay bars on its list of businesses facing extinction in the next 10 years, adding “only the very best of them will survive, the others won’t.”
“A big reason many of the local gay bars are gone is that they did not keep up with the times to continue drawing people in,” says Jimenez, who has bartended at the two former gay bars in Forest Park, and Cell Block in Chicago. “Hideaway and Nutbush were pretty much the only bars in Forest Park that didn’t have any windows, so as time went on the crowd there was getting older. Going into the city is far, and not drinking and driving is a factor, and Boys Town has gotten more dangerous lately. But, just opening up a dive and calling it a gay bar is not reason enough for people to come. There have been a lot of gay bars that have opened and closed in the suburbs. You really have to have some kind of niche.”
David Monterosso, 54, a former Hideaway patron, says since its closing, he and his gay friends have been enjoying Wednesday night Karaoke at Carole’s, 7307 Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park, and patronizing Poor Phil’s in Oak Park for their Friday night get-togethers to watch sports, or relax on the patio.
Even so, he would prefer going to a gay bar to meet new friends.
“I think there is a lot of truth to the reality that gay couples and gay people no longer feel that they exclusively need to patronize gay bars, but the Hideaway will be somewhat missed,” says Charlie Yingling, 36.
What Yingling, a nurse practitioner says is that he often would gather at the bar to unwind after work with straight female coworkers. He acknowledges that among most gay people, including himself, there is still an internalized fear and mistrust toward others regarding how a gay person may be perceived in public, especially if a couple chooses to hold hands, or publicly display affection.
“I would not be disappointed to see a new gay bar open in the Hideaway’s space,” says Yingling, who recently legally “re-married” his long-time partner in June. “I do think it would be a good thing, as yet another offering in the community for something to do on a weekend at night that doesn’t involve driving into the city.”
Yet, what Jimenez and Monterosso are hoping is that a new gay bar will emerge beyond the rumors that are circulating now.
“I think there is a huge need for a gay bar out here, for a sense of community [because] things become more open, we are starting to lose a part of our identity [including] the remembrance of how we got here. For me, the gay bar is part of all that, so I don’t think it is dying, but in evolution, and between Berwyn, Oak Park and Forest Park, there is a large population of individuals who would love to see one open again.”