History is about to be erased and changed –

This is making National AND International news!

Chicago’s LGBTQ ‘hood has long been called ‘Boystown’, but business leaders have decided its time for a re-brand.

The move comes after a petition gained steam over the summer which described Boystown as the “only gendered nickname” of any city’s LGBTQ district. (The petition gained over 1,500 signatures, although a counter-petition to keep the name had over 2,000.)

HISTORY –   The Boystown section of Lakeview was the first officially recognized gay village in the United States.

It is also the cultural center of one of the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities in the nation. Boystown has grown into a cultural center for the LGBT residents living within the Chicago metropolitan area. The district’s informal boundaries, overlapping with Lakeview East, are Irving Park Road on the north, Broadway on the east, Wellington Avenue on the south, and Sheffield Avenue on the west. The Center on Halsted, an LGBT community center, is also located in this area.

Boystown is known for its colorful, lively nightlife and inviting atmosphere. Boystown also includes some of Chicago’s off-Loop theater, specialty restaurants, greystone and brownstone walk-up buildings and other historic architecture, trendy fashion outlets, wine boutiques, chain stores, and independent shops. The city’s annual Gays and Lesbians Chicago Pride Parade begins at the intersection of Montrose and Broadway, runs south along Broadway then Halsted to Belmont, turns east on Belmont to Broadway again, then south to Diversey, and then east to Sheridan Road.

From QUEERTY –“Systemic transphobia, racism, and sexism have plagued our neighborhood for decades, and it begins at the top, with the all-male board of the Northalsted Business Alliance. It begins with the BOYSTOWN signs down our street announcing that this neighborhood is ‘for the boys,’ though the signs hang above our diverse Legacy Walk of several LGBTQ icons in our history.

“To promote the inclusion of transgender, nonbinary, lesbian, and intersex individuals, we submit this petition for the Northalsted Business Alliance to simply follow the other LGBTQ neighborhoods across the world by marketing the area based on its location, North Halsted, not the majority gender of those people who sit on the Northalsted Business Alliance board This is only the beginning of the many changes needed in the North Halsted area.”

So what’s going to be the new  name??????  WHO  KNOW’S ?!