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Man's Country (bathhouse)

1972 establishments in New York City1973 establishments in Illinois1973 in LGBT history2017 disestablishments in IllinoisGay bathhouses in New York City
Gay bathhouses in the United StatesHistory of gay men in the United StatesLGBT culture in ChicagoLGBT history in IllinoisLGBT history in New York CityLGBT studies

Man's Country was a chain of bathhouses and private clubs for gay men in Chicago and New York City. Man's Country/Chicago opened at 5015–5017 North Clark Street in Chicago on September 19, 1973 and held the title of Chicago's longest-running gay bathhouse when it closed in 2017.Less is known about Man's Country/New York, located at 28 West 15th Street (originally 53-55 Pierrepont Street), which closed in 1983.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Man's Country (bathhouse) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Man's Country (bathhouse)
North Clark Street, Chicago

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N 41.973 ° E -87.6678 °
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North Clark Street 5015-5017
60640 Chicago
Illinois, United States
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Kinetic Playground
Kinetic Playground

The Kinetic Playground was a short-lived nightclub located in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The club was opened on April 3, 1968, as the Electric Theater by Aaron Russo and was located at 4812 N. Clark Street (NW corner of Clark and Lawrence). The building was constructed in 1928 and at one time included a dance hall, entertainment center, and ice and roller skating rinks, all known as Rainbo Gardens.Russo was sued by the owners of the Electric Circus in New York City, and changed the club's name a few months after the Chicago club's opening, just prior to the performance of Nova Express and Little Boy Blues on August 9–11, 1968.The club became a driving force in the music business, hosting famous rock bands and musicians such as The Doors, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Tim Buckley, The Who, The Byrds, Janis Joplin, Coven, The Mothers of Invention, The Grateful Dead, Joe Cocker, Spirit, Jeff Beck Group, Eric Burdon, The Small Faces, MC5, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly, Buffy Saint Marie, Fleetwood Mac, Rotary Connection, Savoy Brown, Vanilla Fudge, Muddy Waters, and Jefferson Airplane.The interior of the venue was featured in the film Medium Cool (1969). The movie was filmed on location during the 1968 Democratic Convention and many members of the Playground crew were hired as extras. Iron Butterfly, Poco, and King Crimson had been booked for a three-night gig at the Kinetic Playground on November 7, 8, and 9, 1969, but a small fire took place in the venue between acts at the November 7 performance. The remaining dates for this line-up were cancelled. The Kinetic Playground later reopened, without the elaborate light show of its earlier incarnation, in late December 1972, but closed in June 1973 due to neighbors' complaints about the behavior of concertgoers as well as code compliance issues. In 1975 it planned to reopen as the Emerald Isle Discothèque, but apparently never opened its doors again.The building was demolished for condominiums in 2003. There is no relationship between the 1968-69 Kinetic Playground and the venue by the same name, also known as the Roll Factory, that operated until 2011 at 1113 W. Lawrence in Chicago, not far from the original. Aaron Russo went on to become Bette Midler's manager.

Mountain Moving Coffeehouse

The Mountain Moving Coffeehouse for Womyn and Children was a lesbian feminist music venue, located in Chicago and known across the United States. It operated for thirty-one years, from 1974 until 2005. The name of the organization evokes the political task that feminists must "move the mountains" of institutional sexism and homophobia. The alternative spelling of "womyn" represented an expression of female independence and a repudiation of traditions that define women by reference to a male norm.The "coffeehouse" was a once-a-week Saturday night gathering, held at a rented space in churches, in various north side Chicago neighborhoods, that presented woman-identified music and entertainment by and for lesbians and feminists. Drug and alcohol-free, the space was intended as an alternative to the lesbian bar scene. The organization was founded by lesbian-feminist activists as a safe-space for women and their young children. Male children over the age of two and transgender women were not allowed to attend.The womyn-born womyn policy generated some controversy during the 1980s when pressure was put on the coffeehouse to allow admittance to men, as well as in the 1990s when the policy was contested by transgender women. It was claimed that the policy was discriminatory and created "mental difficulties" for transgender women. The policy was also challenged in the 1990s by a local gay male journalist. However, the organization defended its policy and never allowed admittance to men or to transgender women.In 1993, the coffeehouse was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.Upon the closure of the coffeehouse on December 10, 2005, it was the oldest continuously operating womyn-born womyn and girl-only concert venue in the United States. A successor organization was created called the Kindred Hearts' Coffeehouse, which serves as a monthly event offering women's music.