Christopher Street (Minneapolis)

Few can presently imagine the Twin Cities’ queer social scene in 1972. The Twin Cities Pride Festival began that year with a small gathering of 50 people, the All God's Children MCC did not yet exist, and there were only a handful of community service organizations or social groups. Mainstream society presented little to no information about queer life in a positive light--instead, the few portrayals depicted the homosexual underground as a dark place of depressed social misfits.(1)

Christopher Street ad from the 1977 Twin Cities Pride Guide, page 7.Courtesy of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection.

The few organizations that did exist catered to the radical politics of the college-age hippie set—closeted people, people of color, the uneducated, bisexual people, transgender people, and many others faced isolation and depression in this environment.(2) Alcohol and drug use served as a solace for these populations, who often fell into the trap of alcoholism and drug addiction.

Named for the site of the Stonewall Riots in Manhattan, Christopher Street was another apparent first for the U.S. GLBT community. It offered counseling services for drug and alcohol addiction before Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous offered gay and lesbian support groups within their organizations.(3) Christopher street organized social event when gay and lesbian bars (or house parties that served liquor) constituted a majority of queer social space before the late 1970s.

In part, this alcohol-centric social atmosphere was the result of Minneapolis’ strict liquor patrol limits—this law relegated all Minneapolis liquor establishments to three locations: the Sumner-Glenwood area, the Gateway District, and the area surrounding Franklin Avenue and Cedar Avenue.(4) These concentrations spawned simultaneous concentrations of illegal activity such as prostitution, illicit drug use, and homosexual activity. Thus, and for a time, alcohol abuse and homosexual activity were forced to coexist. Along with A Woman's Coffeehouse, Christopher Street offered non-alcoholic dances (the latter for gay men and lesbian women) and set up special events. One of these events, movie nights, organized the first screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the Twin Cities. In 1986, Christopher Street became the Pride Institute, which still offers chemical dependency and other mental health services.(5)

Christopher Street ad from the 1977 Twin Cities Pride Guide. Courtesy of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection .

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(1)Evident in films similar to Midnight Cowboy. Florin Productions: Dir. John Schlesinger, 1969.

(2)McNaron, Toni A.H. Ed. Zimmerman, Bonnie and Haggerty, George E.. "Alcohol and Substance Abuse" Lesbian Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing, 2000. Pages 22-23.

(3)McNaron, Ibid.

(4)Sanford, Edwin Patterson. "The Saloon Within Patrol Limits" The Outlook, vol.77. 1904.

(5)http://www.pride-institute.com/about/

Part of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 100 Queer Places in Minnesota History, (1860-1969), (1969-2010)