![la cueva gay bar chicago la cueva gay bar chicago](https://149370792.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/La-Cueva-Cantina-Puerto-Vallarta-1-1280x960.jpg)
Since the early days of Boystown, the bars and nightlife that can be found along Halsted Street and nearby have been a magnet for LGBTQ people, according to Keehnen. Halsted St., and Sidetrack Chicago, 3349 N. Within a couple of blocks are other longstanding nightlife handouts Roscoe’s Tavern, 3356 N. Halsted St., a tavern in the heart of Boystown that recently was sold that’s a landmark in the neighborhood. Running generally from the lake to west of Clark Street between Irving Park Road and Diversey Avenue, it’s where you can find some of the oldest and best-known gay bars in Chicago.Īmong them: Little Jims, 3501 N. 4.A hub of gay-owned businesses and bustling nightlife, the heavily LGBTQ North Side neighborhood known as Boystown received the city's official designation as a gay village in 1997. Mens room has no doors due to the fact that they have had problems in the past but has been taken care off. 3.drug use and solicitation inside the club is prohibited and strictly enforced. All in all I think hookers are everywhere not just here and yes that needs to get addressed. Their are several police cars driving up and down 26th st between Pulaski and California because of the working “girls” as for these kids picking them up, I want to know where their parents are and what they think of it all. Their are a lot (easily more than 6 ) of hookers BY the club, but they can not hang around within 200 or 300 ft from the club (unless u stepped out for a smoke) without getting questioned by security or having a law enforcement officer giving you a hard time. So I really doubt theirs any minors getting in let alone drinking in the establishment. I havnt got carded in a long time (from bars, strippclubs, liquor stores) I actually got carded at the door by their greeter/security guard. I was just at that club on Saturday night. Montes going after them? Not that I’m aware of.
![la cueva gay bar chicago la cueva gay bar chicago](https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a4f1291/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4732x3155+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fthumbor%2F33RQtAWHQgF7vLsmtO3U2ZaG4Lk%3D%2F0x0%3A4732x3155%2F4732x3155%2Ffilters%3Afocal(2366x1578%3A2367x1579)%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fuploads%2Fchorus_asset%2Ffile%2F20051400%2Fmerlin_91720848.jpg)
Does it happen at bars that aren’t geared toward LGBTs? Yep. Is anyone surprised that a not-so-chic bar might have patrons that engage in illicit activities? Nope. “While you’re in there, it’s like a whole new world from the outside.” “You get your traditional Mexican with the cowboy hat and belt and matching boots-and same-gender couples,” she said. She said that the space is diverse in terms of age, race, and gender expression. Its executive director, Olivia Sanchez, told Windy City Times that she had been going to the bar since she was 21, drawn to the eclectic crowd that La Cueva attracts. Project VIDA, an organization that provides services to people affected by HIV/AIDS, has offices in Little Village. “I go to the CAPS meetings every month,” he said, referring to Chicago’s community policing initiative. “We don’t have any problems inside,” he said, and when illegal activity is apparent out front, “we call the police.” Lechuga said that the bar had been in its Little Village location for 30 years with no problems from the neighborhood. Ruben Lechuga, who manages La Cueva and owns the building it is housed in, denied the protesters’ charges. “If anybody were to ask me, I don’t have a problem with gay people,” Montes said.
![la cueva gay bar chicago la cueva gay bar chicago](https://southsideweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/LaCueva3_JMichaelEugenio-1024x683.jpg)
Montes said that his complaints, which he has taken to the local alderman and police commander, are not motivated by anti-gay bias. And second, I’d like to speak to their parents. “It was disgusting,” he said.įirst, I’d like to know what “young kids” have the pocket money to solicit any prostitutes.
![la cueva gay bar chicago la cueva gay bar chicago](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p6XQBJ_uggc/maxresdefault.jpg)
On nights that the bar is open, he said, there are “transsexuals and transvestites on every corner,” with “young kids picking them up.” He claimed that he recently was the subject of attempted solicitation by a group of people he thought to be transgender women. “It’s causing a lot of havoc and dismay to the residents of the area,” said Raul Montes, Jr., who organized a protest and press conference outside of La Cueva Aug. They say that La Cueva, a nondescript façade on a busy commercial stretch of West 26th Street, sells alcohol to minors, allows drug dealing on its premises and encourages prostitution in the neighborhood. Opponents say that the bar is a site of illegal activity in a neighborhood that is home to many families. La Cueva, a Latino queer bar in Chicago’s Little Village on the West Side and described as “oldest Latino drag club in the country” (it opened in 1972) is no longer welcome to some in the community.