[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 129 (Thursday, July 22, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E801-E802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING JAMES W. FLINT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2021

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor my friend and a 
champion of the LGBTQ community, James W. Flint, on his 80th birthday.
  At just 17, Jim enlisted in the Navy. He quickly became an 
accomplished service member before returning home to Illinois. Since 
the early 1960s, Jim has been the lifeblood of Chicago's LGBTQ+ 
community, dedicating his time, resources, and talents to expanding and 
creating the LGBTQ nightlife scene. For over 60 years, Jim has been a 
trailblazer and inspiration to many across the state of Illinois and 
beyond, and has been a committed activist and business leader.
  He started his career as a bartender and quickly became the 
entrepreneur we know and love by opening his first locale, the Baton 
Show Lounge, in downtown Chicago. It was a first of its kind drag bar, 
featuring drag queen entertainers before these kinds of shows became as 
popular as they are today. In the decades since, Jim has owned many 
fabulous establishments, including Annex 2, Annex 3, Redoubt, Redoubt 
Atlanta, and River North Travel, in addition to the Baton Show Lounge, 
which is still open today and was recently relocated to my very own 9th 
Congressional district.
  In addition to his extraordinary bars, in 1980, Jim founded the Miss 
Gay Continental Pageant, a national level drag showcase. He was 
motivated to start the pageant when he learned that many other pageants 
were discriminating against drag performers we would today identify as 
transgender. At that time, many of the pageants created rules and 
barriers that excluded entertainers that were living as women or who 
had any kind of plastic surgery. Today, now known as the Miss 
Continental Pageant, it has expanded to a pageant system that 
celebrates male and female entertainers from all across the country and 
around the world, and occurs in Chicago annually.
  He was also a co-founder of the Windy City Athletic Association, 
which gave LGBTQ Chicagoans the opportunity to compete in amateur 
athletics with their counterparts from all across the nation.

[[Page E802]]

  Jim's deep community roots quickly positioned him as an activist and 
community organizer. In 1986 he ran for the Cook County Board of 
Commissioners, and although his bid was not successful, it was 
groundbreaking as he was one of the first openly gay people to run for 
public office in Illinois.
  As is the case for all trailblazers, Jim has faced and overcome 
significant challenges in his personal and professional life. From 
witnessing rampant domestic violence, drug abuse, and homicide within 
the LGBTQ community to the many lives we lost to the AIDS epidemic in 
Chicago and across the country, Jim has withstood phenomenal pain.
  Throughout times of unthinkable tragedy, Jim's warm energy and 
generous spirit have never wavered. His drive; compassion, and 
fantastic flamboyance are remarkable and have allowed him to be 
incredibly successful. He has played a tremendous role in shaping the 
LGBTQ community around the country, and his impact on the City of 
Chicago is immeasurable. As a businessman in the LGBTQ and Chicago 
community, he has blazed trails and opened doors for so many others.
  And as a public servant, activist and community leader, he has made 
sure that the needs of the LGBTQ community were not ignored by our 
government. I am honored to call Jim a friend and wish him all the best 
and continued success.

                          ____________________