Once a symbol of gay hate, an old Chicago police station now a haven for LGBTQ+ seniors
A building in the Lakeview neighborhood, once a symbol of oppression for homosexuals, is now a haven for gay senior citizens.
The old Town Hall Police Station, on the corner of Halsted and Addison, was part of a dark era of LGBTQ oppression. Don Bell, a historian and gay activist, knows about that history.
"When I was young, gay men were arrested and spent weekends here," Bell said. "And then [they] appeared in queer lists in public, in newspapers, destroying their personal and professional lives."
The building has since been converted into a senior housing facility for LGBTQ seniors, the Town Hall Apartments, co-owned by Center on Halsted, a historic LGBT community center in Chicago,
"We were born demonized, and that's the world we came into, and since that time, we have made tremendous progress on that," Bell, a resident, said.
That progress certainly did not happen overnight. The simple act of touching someone of the same sex was still considered a crime in Illinois up until 1984.
Joli Angel Robinson, the CEO of Center on Halsted, acknowledges that the surging anti-LGBTQ agenda in state legislatures across the country should be on everyone's radar.
"We have to keep our foot on the gas when it comes to advocacy, when it comes to engaging our elected officials and really fighting for the rights that took so long for us to get," Robinson said.
For Bell. educating the masses about the history of gay discrimination will be the key to getting where we need to go.
"You have to know these things in order to protect yourself," Bell said.