Francisco Arcaute is a photographer based in Chicago. He has various documentary photographs in the permanent collections of the Chicago Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library and University of Nevada Las Vegas.
In the early 80's he was a self-described "indifferent art student/aspiring artiste" living in then ungentrified Walker's Point. Hoping to become a photojournalist and building a portfolio, at some point he photographed a drag show. Unfortunately, he doesn't have more details as to exactly where and when the photos (actually slides/ transparencies) were taken (although many of the slides were developed and mounted in October 1981). In late 2022 he was downsizing, and donated the photographs to the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project. Those images appear on this page.
We welcome web site users to enjoy viewing these images. But we want to identify them as much as possible so they can be attributed to the particular performers, and if possible better define when and where they were taken. If you can identify any of these images, please contact us at the email "wislgbthistory@gmail.com". Give us the image-ID # of the photo you recognize, and any info you can about that image: the name of the performer, date, location, and/or event. We will add your note to the image, and credit you by initials or (if you prefer) by name for contributing the information.
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