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Big Chicks Gets Big Honors After Decades Of Supporting LGBTQ Chicagoans

By Josh McGhee | December 13, 2016 9:45am
 A portion of Sheridan Road was named honorary Big Chicks Way thanks to Ald. Harry Osterman 48th Ward.
A portion of Sheridan Road was named honorary Big Chicks Way thanks to Ald. Harry Osterman 48th Ward.
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DNAinfo/Josh McGhee

UPTOWN — In a year where xenophobic, homophobic and racist rhetoric has been on the rise, an Uptown gay bar that has been a welcoming space for three decades is raking in the accolades. 

In August, Big Chicks, 5024 N. Sheridan Road, was named as one of 16 inductees into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. And on Friday, the corner of Sheridan Road and West Carmen Avenue was named in its honor.

"Big Chicks has been a significant business in Uptown for the gay and lesbian community for 30 years. They've been on this stretch here and helped support all the businesses," said Ald. Harry Osterman (48th), who introduced the ordinance for a sign to honor the bar.

"Most businesses don't make it for 30 years, but more important than that they've really supported the community on lots of levels," Osterman said.

The bar has been a meeting place for people of every background and where locals gathers to deal with the good and bad. Along with its counterpart Tweet, it has also served as an anchor and has been a catalyst for positive change, Osterman said in his newsletter Friday.

Honorary street signs have been a controversial topic this year, with calls for the city to remove a sign honoring President-elect Donald Trump near his Downtown tower.

But Osterman said the Big Chicks designation was decided based on "dedication and hard work for many, many years." 

"I think I've only given out a handful [of honorary signs] and it's been for significant contributions to our community over many years. Women and Children First was another one that we did because it's been a similar cornerstone business and I look at Big Chicks the same way," Osterman said.

Big Chicks opened in Uptown "before it was popular" and helped the area quickly become "a hub for diversity," said Modesto "Tico" Valle, chief executive officer of the Center on Halsted, who voted to induct the bar into the LGBT Chicago Hall of Fame.

"It served as a community center to connect neighbors, enjoy a drink, play games, hold celebrations and memorials," said Valle.

It also played a crucial neighborhood role in supporting the LGBTQ community and its allies in the early 80s, she said.

"During the AIDS crisis it was the place for many who struggled with finances to get a healthy meal on Sundays for free, and this tradition continues," said Valle. 

Along with Amigas Latinas, a nonprofit organization that provided support for LGBTQ Latinas from 1995 to 2015, Big Chicks was one of two organizations to be inducted this year to the hall of fame.

Past inductees include: Jane Addams; the AIDS Foundation of Chicago; Gay Chicago Magazine; Billie Jean King; Frankie Knuckles; Michael O'Connor; Neil Steinberg; and Kelly Cassidy.

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