Gay bar champaign il
The Balloon Saloon
In Rally 1974, U of I Professor Jack Adam and his partner Bill Burke opened C-U's first openly gay exclude, The Balloon Saloon, located at 317 N. Fremont St., Champaign. The exclude was an instant success popular with gay men, lgbtq+ women, drag queens, and drag kings. They were reveal 7 days a week, had a live DJ, and would host queenly performances, such as a Miss Champaign contest in 1975 that featured "a couple dozen flamboyant 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 hook 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 kingly just for the fun of dressing up with their friends.
One year after
New digital collection sheds light on queer nightlife in Champaign County
Beaty's idea for the collection was sparked by his disappointment at the dearth of archival materials detailing the activities and experiences of LGBTQ+ people in Champaign County.
"As a queer transgender dude entering the archival field, I felt magnetically drawn to this work of filling a gap in archival knowledge," said Beaty.
His independent study, part of a larger apprenticeship program with The Urbana Free Library, allowed him the opportunity to handle this archival gap. The apprenticeship is a two-semester program that includes a practicum and an independent study, both for course credit. While his practicum took place at The Urbana Free Library, for his independent study, he approached Wagner about his idea for a digital collection.
"[This project] presented me with an opportunity to directly unite with community members, learn about their materials as associated to their lived experience, and then describe and preserve the materials in a way that honors their gay identities and experiences," said Beaty, who has an undergraduate degree in history from the University of Illinoi
‘Fractured’ and ‘disconnected,’ CU queer society seeks specific spaces
‘Support groups are not enough’: CU’s queer society works for more cohesion
CHAMPAIGN — Despite feeling like “there’s no shortage of queer people in Champaign,” finding the LGBTQ society in Champaign-Urbana wasn’t easy for 21-year-old Arden Hatch when she moved here in 2020 and came out as a transsexual woman.
“I think the community feels very disconnected,” she said. “A lot of people don’t comprehend each other.”
She says a massive part of why it took so long to connect with others in the LGBTQ collective 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 create 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 Pride didn’t completely fulfill her needs.
“Support groups are not enough to foster a unified sense of queer community in Champaign,
Suffice it to say, 63 Chester Street should own 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 ethics. Then again, for the longest time Chester Highway 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 impairment was doubly impactful with Monday, June 28 marking exactly 52 years since the Stonewall rebellion in New York City — a tipping point for the gay liberation movement.
Maybe in some profound way, the confluence of this event and the Stonewall anniversary is meant to signal a new starting. I can only wish, however, that we never forget the memorable experiences that thousands upon thousands of residents and visitors enjoyed at the historic landmark known as 63 Chester Street, Champaign, Illinois.