Hotties Vote. Then They Celebrate With a Drink.

Written by 2Bears Tavern Group
Hotties Vote. Then they celebrate with a drink. Five friends smiling together at a 2Bears bar. Election Day, Tuesday, Nov 3, Chicago. Polls close at 7PM.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov 3, is Election Day, and we're not going to pretend it's just another Tuesday. We run six LGBTQ+ owned bars across Chicago, and we don't endorse candidates. What we do have is a stake in what happens next. Every game of pool, every dart and every person you've met at one of our bars happened in a room that exists because together, we fought for it, and the only way we get to keep sharing these spaces is to protect them, starting at the ballot box and continuing every time we show up for them and for each other.

Hotties Vote. Then they celebrate with a drink. Election Day, Chicago, 11.03.26.
Why we care. These rooms exist because together, we fought for them. A collage of guests at 2Bears bars.

Since January 2025, one party has held the House, the Senate and the White House, and our community has felt it at every level. This year alone, state lawmakers introduced 531 bills targeting LGBTQ+ people, and 40 of them became law, according to the ACLU. The administration banned trans people from military service and stopped issuing passports that match a person's gender identity, and the Supreme Court let both policies move forward while the court fights continue. In June, that same Court voted 6 to 3 to uphold state bans on trans girls playing on girls' school sports teams. Here at home, Operation Midway Blitz brought federal immigration agents into Chicago neighborhoods starting in September 2025 and detained more than 3,800 people in about ten weeks.

Since Jan 2025, one party has run the House, the Senate and the White House. 531 bills targeting LGBTQ+ people filed this year, 40 became law.

None of that stays inside a courtroom or a statehouse. When the ones with power greenlight hate, everyone hears the message, harassment gets bolder, and businesses and individuals like us become easier targets while the people who could step in look the other way. Meta has been suspending Instagram accounts of LGBTQ+ businesses and creators for a long time, and since June it has escalated, from San Francisco to Austin to Orlando, and even here in Chicago. Some were told their posts broke rules on "human exploitation," and others never got an explanation at all. For a neighborhood bar, losing that account means losing the way we reach you, and that should worry anyone who cares about where our community gathers.

And it isn't only our social media. For years, banks and companies like Stripe have frozen and shut down the accounts LGBTQ+ venues use to sell tickets, here in Chicago and across the country. When we call for help, we're told we're an excluded business selling adult services, which simply isn't true. Over the past year, federal regulators rewrote the rules on who financial companies can turn away. They protected political and religious views without a single word about LGBTQ+ people, which leaves banks and companies like Stripe free to keep doing this with no one holding them accountable. At the same time, laws in Florida and Tennessee that target "adult performances" can be used against drag and male entertainment. In Florida, a venue can face fines of up to $10,000 and lose its liquor license, while Texas's version was blocked again by a federal judge this August. All of this lands on businesses that are already fighting to stay open. The number of LGBTQ+ bars in the country fell by about 45% between 2002 and 2023, Chicago's listed gay bars dropped from 38 to 26 between 2017 and 2021, and last year nearly four in ten major companies planned to scale back their Pride support. Add it up and it means fewer places for us to exist, and less of our history left standing. They're coming for our accounts, our stages and our history, and we have to ask what's next.

When the ones with power greenlight hate, everyone hears it. Instagram suspensions, payment account shutdowns and drag laws. They're coming for our accounts, our stages and our history.

There's a nightlife fight happening right here in Illinois, too. On Nov 12, the state's new hemp law kicks in, and hemp drinks with more than 0.4 mg of THC per can will count as cannabis, which means bars like ours can no longer sell them. A federal rule follows on Dec 11 that takes most hemp THC drinks off shelves nationwide unless Congress acts first. Fewer Americans are drinking than ever, with Gallup putting it at a record low of 54%, and for a lot of our guests a THC drink became the way to go out, be social and still feel in control. Many of them have told us it takes the edge off a crowded room. A lot of them turned 21 during the pandemic and are only now learning to socialize in spaces like ours, and for some, a THC drink was the only option because they physically can't drink alcohol. Social norms teach us that a night out means holding a drink in your hand, so pulling this option hurts farmers, makers, bars and every guest who relies on it to feel at ease in a room like ours. If you disagree with this law, we're encouraging you to contact your state senator, your state representative and the Governor's office.

The THC ban. They're pulling the drink that got some of us through the door. Illinois Hemp Act takes effect Nov 12, federal hemp THC rules kick in Dec 11.

We'll say it plainly: every elected official works for you, and that goes for every party. Some of the people our community helped put in office have voted against the very communities that got them there, so look up who's on your ballot, read their record, and ask whether their work has been consistent or just for the photo op. Tomorrow's ballot includes the Governor, a U.S. Senate seat, all 17 of Illinois' U.S. House seats, every Illinois House seat, 39 state Senate seats, 61 Cook County judges up for retention and Chicago's first fully elected school board. Then on Feb 23, 2027, all 50 alders are on the ballot, and every one of them just accepted a raise for 2027.

They work for us. Not the other way around. What's on tomorrow's ballot, and all 50 alders up in February 2027.

Remember 2024? Too many of us got comfortable. We were so sure of the outcome that we thought we could predict our safety for the next four years. It didn't work out, and now we're here. Lately we've also heard a lot of people, especially younger voters, say out loud that they'll skip the big elections and only vote in local ones because that's where it matters. Your vote matters in every race. When enough of us sit one out, we hand power to the people who keep taking our rights away and to the ones cashing our tax dollars as a paycheck after swearing to serve us. Now's the time to remind them that they work for us, not the other way around.

Remember 2024? Comfy cost us. Show up. Unite. Protect each other.

So now what?

Get out there and vote. Polls are open from 6AM to 7PM, and if you're in line by 7, you get to vote, so don't let anyone tell you otherwise! Find your polling place at chicagoelections.gov.

Not registered yet? You can register and vote at your home precinct polling place tomorrow, as long as you bring two forms of ID with at least one showing your current address.

So now what? Get your ass out and vote! Polls close at 7PM. Find your polling place at chicagoelections.gov.

Then come celebrate with a drink at Marty's Martini Bar, Meeting House Tavern, The SoFo Tap or 2Bears Tavern Uptown. Hotties vote, and we can't wait to see you. 21+ with ID.

Sources

2Bears Tavern Group
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