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LGBT History: Rainbow Magic at the Belmont Rocks

Published: Aug. 3, 2020, 6:41 a.m.

Although we like to think of our LGBT spots as permanent places that will always be there, the reality is that they come and go. Afterall, for much of human history, people were nomads, moving from place to place.

Today writer and historian Owen Keehnan joins us to talk about the rainbow magic at the Belmont Rocks, a very public space in the heart of Chicago\u2019s lakefront park where gender and sexual non conformists hung out in the sun to find community and a little bit of love in the early days of the gay rights movement.

The Belmont Rocks are not what it used it be but so many people have fond remembrances of the place that Owen has started a community project \u201cA Place for Us: LGBTQ Life at The Belmont Rocks\u201d where people can submit their photos or stories of their time spent at the Rocks.

Listen as we talk about why the gay beach isn\u2019t the same thing as the Rocks, the legacy of Chuck Renslow and IML, Jim Flint and the Baton Club and how Chicago became an international city of crossdressers and leathermen.