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- House
(The) Belmont Rocks
Belmont Ave and North Lake Shore Drive
In 2003 the City of Chicago paved over The Belmont Rocks, obliterating what artist Doug Ischar called the “most central and visible gay beach in North America.” The destruction of one of the few public spaces in the city where interracial queer conviviality took place by the light of day, a terrain some house fans remember fondly as the site of Frankie Knuckles’ post-pride parade DJ sets, helped to purge public
black, Latino, as well as white working class and youth cultures, from the city’s Lakeview neighborhood.