Chicago’s O’Hare airport, the second busiest airport in the US per flight volume, might soon make queer history.
The airport currently has concession spaces to fill. Among those to pitch for one is Sidetrack Bar, one of the Windy City’s best-known gay bars.
If the bar’s successful (and it’s up against many other bids) it would make O’Hare the first airport in America with a gay bar. In fact, probably in the world because we can’t think of any others!
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The Chicago Tribune reports that restaurateur Germán González, 30, managing partner of Somos Hospitality Group (Tzuco, Ummo), has submitted a proposal to O’Hare officials. Sidetrack co-owners Art Johnston and José “Pepe” Peña are backing the plans with planned investment and licensing of the name and brand.
The proposed bar would be located in Terminal 1.
Johnston and Peña opened Sidetrack on North Halsted Street in 1982. Forty-three years later, it’s still going strong.
Johnston, 81, is enthused about the idea of a Sidetrack at O’Hare. He says such a venue would “create ways for people to see gay people and see that not only have we done well in Chicago, we have thrived in Chicago.
“We have made this a better city, a stronger city, and why not show that to the world?”
González told the outlet that a Sidetrack at O’Hare would counter a lot of the negativity directed at the LGBTQ+ community.
“Sometimes the best defense is a good offense, no?” González said. “And we’re getting attacked everywhere. And at the end of the day, you know, we need to have presence. We need to have a seat at the table. We need to have representation everywhere.
“And it’s not like you need to be gay to go to the bar,” González added. “I mean, at the end of the day, it’s going to be a beautiful bar.”
“We’re trying to live our lives and make life better for all”
O’Hare handles around 80 million passengers a year.
“Pepe and I, we’re just blown away by the notion, knowing the number of people who pass through here every day who could see that there are (gay) bars here, where the people there don’t have horns and tails, and we’re not trying to steal anybody’s children,” Johnston said. “We’re trying to live our lives and make life better for all of us. And O’Hare is, we think, a perfect next step in that direction.”
Johnson told Blockclubchicago, “There are people from red states who don’t think they’ve ever met a gay person — and they’ll get a look at who we are and how much a part of this city we are.
“People still tell bartenders everything. My bartenders keep hearing stories from people moving here from places like Texas and Florida, where they or their trans family members can’t get medical care. I love that Chicago continues to be a welcoming place.”
O’Hare officials are likely to take several months to consider all the proposals for its concessions spaces. Watch this space to find out if Sidetrack is successful.
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