343:. Toushin was put in charge of the Bijou in 1970 with the venue eventually showing gay films exclusively in 1978. He has had several legal bouts and disputes with law enforcement over the years, including a conviction for tax evasion in the late 1980's and a number of obscenity indictments. In 1989, at the Adult Video Awards show in Las Vegas Toushin received (while he was in prison) the Reuben Sturman Award "For Legal Battles on Behalf of the Adult Industry". In 2007, at the GayVN award show in San Francisco, Toushin was awarded the "Life Time Achievement Award" from the Gay Adult Industry. He is the 3rd person to ever receive this honor. In the June 2008 AVN (Adult Video News) magazine's 25th anniversary edition Toushin was acknowledged as one of the 25 pioneers who developed the Gay/bi Adult Film Industry. Toushin was inducted into the Founders Branch of the
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through
Saturdays at 8:30 pm and 10:30 pm each night. This cabaret was unlike the former Bijou cabaret, due to its including both a male and female cast and featured very little nudity. Cast members included a few of the dancers from the erotic cabaret but were mostly singers and actors from Chicago's thriving
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Miss Tiger's
Cabaret was irreverent, camp, sometimes political and thought provoking all in one. Miss Tiger's comedic timing and ability to involve the audience into the show was legendary. The diversity and inclusiveness featured in these productions garnered a following of show goers, that often
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activism in the 1980's and 1990's. The theater received criticism for unsafe sex practices during the early years of the pandemic, but it also became a site for HIV/AIDs education and outreach, providing a space for activists to distribute condoms and material on safe homosexual sex practices. In
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Miss Tiger's
Cabaret featured live singing, original music and original plays. The cabaret shows were written and directed by Miss Tiger and were the first of their kind to be performed at Bijou Theater. New shows were introduced about every eight weeks; with productions taking place Thursdays
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scene. Original music was created by
Chicago music producer, DJ Christian, who often accompanied Miss Tiger in music bookings outside of the theater. Each production featured theatrical lighting, original costumes and set design. Many shows were photographed and reviewed by
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The Bijou Boys Erotic
Cabaret featured solo performances by local and national male dancers. Performances featured full nudity and there were typically three to four dancers a show. Showtimes were select afternoons and nightly. The cabaret began to shift from typical
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counter to purchase gay adult films. A desk and computer were set up for patrons who would like to peruse the Bijou's website listing over 14,000 titles. Titles found on the website were then available for purchase at the DVD counter.
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As with many other Gay and
Lesbian Theater during the 1960's, the presence of these communities allowed others to express themselves freely and spread ideas of acceptable and identity in a safe place. Specifically,
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and a push for visibility, the deteriorating obscenity laws that often targeted queer communities, demands of a gay consumer base, and a broad spirit of self expression. Before its opening in 1970, the
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boy show to an avant-garde, high production value venue under the direction of Miss Tiger. Eventually, these more explicit shows were separated from a newly formed venue known as Miss Tiger's
Cabaret.
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frequented the Bijou
Theater and Jeremiah Weinberger, a theater customer service representative, was one of his murder victims. During the Dahmer trials, many gay establishments, such as
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1985, the theater published a booklet of safe sex guidelines called "Safe Sex: It Can Save Your Life" and started exclusively using condoms in all pornographic films by 1987.
140:, the Bijou Theater was the longest-running gay adult theater and sex club in the United States. The Bijou Theater featured the "Bijou Classics"—adult films produced by
284:). Film production ended in the late 1990s. In 1999, Bijou Video began remastering and digitizing its film library of 16mm film, 1-inch masters, and 3/4 inch tapes.
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The Bijou
Theater featured a 15-by-18-foot silver screen and seated 77 people in anchored, theater-style cushioned seating. The theater's lobby hosted a
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in the 1970s and 1980s—every Monday. The theater also hosted live shows featuring adult entertainers, a non-sexual cabaret show written and directed by
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and gay clubs, were left vacant or less busy than usual due to the gruesome details of these murders and fears from the community of falling victim.
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included heterosexual men, women and couples, who would have otherwise never visited Bijou
Theater.
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objects. Guests were invited to rent a locker to store their street clothes and change into their "
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In January and February 1975, the theater showed the controversial gay pornographic feature film,
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in 1969 created a political push for the visibility and acceptance of LGBT individuals.
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pornographic film company in 1978. Bijou Video produced hundreds of gay
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by Ed D. Louie, which focused on a young man with a sexual fixation on
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U.S. v. Toushin, 714 F.Supp. 1452 at 1454 (M.D.Tenn. April 21, 1989).
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823:"Chicago's Bijou Theater to close Sept. 30 - Windy City Times News"
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The Bijou Theater was owned and operated by American pornographer
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154:. The theater permanently closed its door on September 30, 2015.
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The Bijou Theater was widely recognized for its second-floor
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On September 21, 1976, co-owner Paul Gonsky was murdered by
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The Bijou Theater also played a role in the development of
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Gay erotic theater thrived due to the confluences of
873:"bijouworld.com - Bijou Theater History - BijouBlog"
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481:"Chicago's Bijou Theater to close Sept. 30"
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479:Simonette, Matt (2015-09-11).
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345:Adult Video News Hall of Fame
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666:"The Best Of Richard Locke"
562:"Studio Bijou Gay Classics"
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640:"Pleasures In The Sun"
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614:"Turned On"
542:Bijou World
363:Controversy
357:Larry Flynt
353:Phil Harvey
204:Bijou Video
186:glory holes
143:Bijou Video
18:Bijou Video
1055:Categories
970:87°38′04″W
967:41°54′26″N
934:2023-05-01
910:2023-05-01
882:2023-05-01
859:2023-05-01
833:2023-05-01
808:2024-01-16
782:2024-01-16
771:"Food Sex"
756:2024-01-18
730:2024-01-16
704:2024-01-17
677:2024-01-16
651:2024-01-21
625:2024-01-17
599:2024-01-16
573:2024-01-16
547:2024-01-17
492:2015-10-17
463:References
372:bathhouses
322:Nightspots
218:mail order
520:The Guide
389:lost film
335:Ownership
270:food play
246:Toby Ross
230:Turned On
226:Al Parker
112:) was an
110:The Bijou
443:See also
436:HIV/AIDs
274:Food Sex
240:), and
182:sex club
176:Sex club
134:Old Town
118:sex club
61:Sex Club
1021:Chicago
995:Portals
745:"Drive"
538:"About"
347:at the
316:of the
278:bondage
276:), and
258:fisting
163:Theater
158:History
130:Chicago
122:gay men
67:Address
280:(e.g.
272:(e.g.
260:(e.g.
254:fetish
236:(e.g.
228:(e.g.
194:fetish
83:Closed
75:Opened
1009:LGBTQ
295:go-go
266:Drive
234:Bruno
91:Owner
802:AEBN
776:AEBN
750:AEBN
724:AEBN
698:IMDb
671:AEBN
645:AEBN
619:AEBN
593:AEBN
567:AEBN
355:and
264:and
252:and
250:BDSM
190:BDSM
148:drag
120:for
116:and
86:2015
78:1970
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169:DVD
132:'s
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
