It's Curious City, where we take your questions about Chicago and the region,

and investigate, report, explore, from WBEZ.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets of Chicago to celebrate our city's LGBT communities.

It sounds something like this.

I'm Jason Narciss.

I'm a librarian with Chicago Collections and Northwestern's McCormick Library of Special Collections,

and I recently helped Curious City answer a question about the origins of Boys Town, Chicago's Gay District,

and the epicenter of our annual Pride Parade.

In reporting that story, we had some LGBTQ folks in the studio for a multi-generational discussion.

We talked about Boys Town's history, the need for a place like it, and whether the neighborhood is inclusive enough.

It was a fascinating dialogue, but a lot of it never made it onto the airwaves.

So, in the spirit of Pride Month, we decided to share more of it with you.

We started the conversation with some introductions.

Yes, Chuck Renslow, a gay activist for a number of years.

I can tell you about Boys Town,

showing back to way before it was on Halstead Street,

which I will do later on.

Oh, it looks like my turn. I'm Andy Meadows. I'm a local photographer and queer historian. My name is Jay Wilson. I'm a non-binary trans person and a drag

performer. I'm Abbechid Rane. I'm a drag queen and a club promoter, and I've been living in

Boystown for the past four years now. I'm also non-binary and trans, and Boystown has been, like,

a creative playground for me to help discover who I am and how I can, like, contribute to queer

culture.

...