![the phoenix gay bar chicago the phoenix gay bar chicago](https://fastly.4sqi.net/img/general/600x600/16798702_rldqwmzVuPwLZFPHjrPutKfkJenpd7uOZnKj5DAf8Ss.jpg)
More than three dozen luxurious resorts are scattered throughout the Valley, many of which provide spectacular spas that offer special treatments native to Arizona. Of course, golf is one of the most popular outdoor activities, as Greater Phoenix provides more than 200 pristine courses.
![the phoenix gay bar chicago the phoenix gay bar chicago](https://irs0.4sqi.net/img/general/width960/1984691_rw2dOJgDNUNRiMW8qSK9atKc2dEc1FUezl_Ffoij4Co.jpg)
Experience a wide range of tours and sightseeing excursions, whether by Jeep or hot-air balloon, on horseback, or even by boat. Our near-perfect weather goes hand-in-hand with exciting recreation and adventure activities, which are enjoyed year-round.
![the phoenix gay bar chicago the phoenix gay bar chicago](https://fthmb.tqn.com/gexmOvj0XT0MVeb4-N9TqCPFS3I=/960x0/filters:no_upscale()/Sidetrack_Chicago-56a351415f9b58b7d0d174c8.jpg)
More than 330 days of annual sunshine mean you can count on exceptional weather as you experience the rich diversity of our Sonoran Desert playground. Tom Tunney, Chicago’s first openly gay alderman whose ward includes Boystown, also repeatedly declined to comment on the claims of racism in the neighborhood.No matter what time of year you visit Greater Phoenix, you’ll find plenty of things to see and do. Management at Beatnix and Progress Bar, where the anti-black incidents took place last year, did not respond to requests for comment on the story. “That, for me, is very much so a waste of my time, when we know two or three days later, they’re going to be back doing the same thing,” she said. Wade said she is focused on supporting new communities rather than trying to dismantle the racism in Boystown. Two of the clubs she touted are Jeffery Pub - which Wade said was “the oldest-running gay club on the South Side” - and Club Escape in the South Shore neighborhood. “That’s a lot of work that I do on the South Side - to tell Black and brown people that we have our own clubs,” Wade said. LaSaia Wade, founder and executive director of South Side LGBT center Brave Space Alliance, said she spends much of her time spreading the word about alternatives to Boystown. He added that queer enclaves across the nation, such as those in Philadelphia and San Francisco, have faced similar issues. “Is it going to be intersectional and inclusive? Or are we going to have spaces that it really just matters who has the most money? Which, because of other ways our society is structured, is going to be white people.” “I think this is a tension that is really at the heart of what we want for the future of gay neighborhoods and the queer community,” Orne said. Jason Orne, a Drexel University assistant professor of sociology who wrote a book about Boystown, said last year’s incidents were just the latest in a yearslong pattern of hostility by the community’s mostly white residents toward people of color, especially queer youth of color. “If it wasn’t from the establishments, then it was from the people that actually went to Boystown.” “Right off the bat, the treatment that we got at Boystown was extremely oppressive,” Rice said. As a patron in Boystown, Rice said they have been forced to open tabs to buy drinks, have faced what they called “oppressive dress codes” and higher scrutiny of their ID. Jae Rice, a black queer DJ in Chicago, said they started their weekly party in the South Loop neighborhood to create space for queer women of color because of the racism they experienced.Īs a DJ, Rice said they have been asked by managers and promoters at bars and venues not to play hip hop music. The incidents only fueled conversations in the community about whether the queer enclave is welcoming to people of color.Īmid these incidents, queer activists, performers and everyday patrons of color alike said they have turned to other neighborhoods that haven’t been hit by the same allegations of racism, classism and profiling that have dogged Boystown in recent years. Around the same time, costume and vintage clothing store Beatnix made headlines when a customer found a Confederate flag vest for sale at the store. Last May, a leaked email showed that management at Boystown gay bar Progress Bar aimed to ban rap music at the bar. Queer people of color are turning away from Chicago “gayborhood” Boystown after two anti-black incidents last year and what some say is a pattern of hostility and racism in the neighborhood.