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After high school in the Peoria area, Myers came to Champaign, and she says she found a family in the queer community here.
Myers spoke with IPM reporter Owen Henderson about her memories of the Chester Street bar.
MYERS: When I came to Chester Street for the first time, I walked into those doors, and it was a Thursday night and it was the EDM music.
And I remember taking a big breath and knowing, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s more people like me, like, I’m not crazy.
But you know, we don’t have a queer space, I would say.
I’ll tell you what, in the early ’90s, 2000s, there weren’t any dating sites. But not everyone is pinning their hopes on someone opening a new bar.
“Just getting a queer bar, I don’t think would meet the entire need for queer space and queer gathering,” Nicole Frydman said.
As director of operations for Uniting Pride, Frydman says the desire for a dedicated queer space is something they hear a lot from the community.
The group is currently located in the University YMCA, but Frydman says the small non-profit has a “starry-eyed pipe dream” for its own standalone center far in the future that could host some of the group’s educational and social programming, as well as serve as a gathering place.
Champaign resident Matthew Brown has a dream for a space of his own too.
Summers are mild and pleasant, with the high temperature in July usually rising to an average of 84 ºF. Tuesdays was trash disco. There’s a lot of queer people here who really, really are invested.
Champaign and Urbana have intertwined histories dating back to the early 19th century.
They conduct the majority of advertising through their Facebook page, where interested community members can stay up to date.
“Anthem isn’t just a bar,” Maggi said.
“Our next theme is coming out in conjunction with the Oscars,” Maggi said. But then am I still welcome there after that? With great music, strong drinks, and a lively dance floor, it’s one spot you’ll definitely want to put on your list for a fun night out on the town.
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“Losing all that was really devastating, so Michael giving me the opportunity to lead with him has been really wonderful.”
Both Hurley and Maggi spoke to the importance of queer spaces when they came out. Now that’s before my time, but you know, being around all the gays, you know, you hear stories of the Balloon Saloon and the Giovanni’s and pictures and seeing different, hearing different things and different stories from those locations as well.
And one nice thing I liked about Chester Street is everybody knew that it was a gay bar, but everybody came.
Those who live in Champaign can expect to experience all four distinct seasons each year. C Street was Champaign’s last remaining gay bar before it closed in 2017 when the building fell into disrepair and the owner sold it.
However, the site where C Street once stood is now being considered for designation as a historical site by the city of Champaign.
Amy Myers is known by many in Champaign-Urbana as the organizer of some of the area’s biggest drag shows, but she got her start bartending and hosting drag shows at C Street.
It has all these different resources that people can access, and a lot of people do come from more rural areas here to access those resources.
But that doesn’t negate the fact that there’s heterogeneity within the town itself. Urbana was established in 1833 as the county seat of the newly formed Champaign County, named after Urbana, Ohio.
“So now it’s like, we need something that’s gonna give us a little bit of everything.”
However, until more of the business plans are finalized, he says that he and the others are keeping things like their future name and location under wraps, especially after a recent queer skate night was canceled when organizers were threatened.
Still, Brown says he’s excited to hopefully make a difference for other members of the LGBTQ community in central Illinois.
“Just to be able to give people something like that and be able to contribute to the queer community in a way I’ve never thought I would ever be able to, is something so just mind-blowing and awesome to me,” he said.
And if all goes well, the group hopes to be open for business next June, just in time for Pride month.
Former bartender remembers C Street’s heyday
According to research from Oberlin College, the United States has lost around half of its LGBTQ bars over the past 20 years.
And it’s a greatest feeling in the world to be around more people like yourself and know you’re safe.
Before Chester Street, there was the Balloon Saloon, and that was in the ’70s. There’s also a lack of being able to like sustain those queer spaces whenever we can get them.
But then too, I think a part of it is somewhat of a lack of a broader community buy-in to maintain and manage those spaces.
Stakeholders often perceive this narrative that ‘All of our locations, bars, restaurants, whatever, are queer friendly.
The current median list price of homes for sale in Champaign is around $200,000.
Arts and Entertainment
Krannert Art Museum
The Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois is widely considered to be one of the best university museums in the country. “It really set the tone for what we want to do with the rest of the year.”
The management team at Anthem said they have many events in store for the new year.
It is a sense of community.”
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‘Fractured’ and ‘disconnected,’ CU queer 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 queer people in Champaign,” finding 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.
I feel like I would go there a lot because I do feel that sense of missing that ability to just be like, this is just a hangout space, and it’s safe.
It’s not even just like, I’m worried about being harassed. It’s easy for these businesses or whatever to be allies during Pride. The significance of these settings and LGBTQ+ venues can create a much-needed support system for young queer people as they openly explore their identities.
“My proposal was to turn it into an LGBTQ+ space for the community,” Maggi said.