Standing Up for Gay Rights JOHN D. POLING
At a time when mainstream society did not accept gays and lesbians, Mattachine Midwest arose to fight against decades of discrimination and advance the rights of homosexuals.
I
n the summer of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the most significant civil rights legislation since Reconstruction—the Civil Rights Act. As one of the crowning achievements of the explosive Civil Rights Movement, the act secured the rights of African Americans and outlawed employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, and national origin. Such protection, however, was not afforded to America’s sexual minorities. In the 1950s and 1960s, most Americans perceived gay men and lesbians as a threat not only to the country’s moral foundation but also to the very heart of national security in the Cold War era. In the 1960s, large metropolitan areas, such as Chicago, afforded homosexuals a certain level of anonymity but did not shelter them completely from the nationwide persecution of gays. Law enforcement officials reflected the views of society’s mainstream and held little tolerance for deviant sexual behavior. In the chilly, early morning hours of Saturday, April 25, 1964, Cook County sheriff’s deputies raided the Fun Lounge, which was owned and operated by Louis Gauger at 2340 North Mannheim Road. Gauger’s, as the bar was often called, catered to Chicago’s sizable gay population but was located in an unincorporated area outside city limits, probably to avoid regular crackdowns by the Chicago Police Department. As part of a campaign promise to get tough on the county’s vice activity, Cook County Sheriff Richard Ogilvie had placed the club under surveillance. Ogilvie held particular scorn for the Fun Lounge, which he once called “too revolting to describe.” At the culmination of a three-week surveillance operation, his deputies carried out the subsequent raid and arrested more than one hundred people. While some Fun Lounge patrons did participate in criminal activity, including underage drinking and drug possession, the sheriff’s office charged most with “sexual deviancy” or as “patrons of a disorderly house.” The following day, the Chicago Tribune reported on the “powder
4 | Chicago History | Spring 2005
On Sunday, April 26, 1964, the Chicago Tribune featured frontpage coverage of the raid on the Fun Lounge. Photographs of the lounge’s manager, proprietor, and licensee accompanied the story.