“I would have done more harm than good,” Renslow told the Reader. George Dunne, the legendary chairman of the Cook County Democratic Central Committee and county board president, asked Renslow to run for office in the ’60s, according to the Reader. Renslow’s involvement in politics caught the eye of many powerful political figures. Working within the Democratic Machine, Renslow long lobbied for gay and lesbian rights. Renslow later got involved in city politics and became a precinct captain for 43rd Ward committeeman Dan O’Brien during the ’70s, according to the Chicago Reader. In matter of fact, I remember one time - which is why I liked Benny the Bums - I told them, ‘Well I’m not old enough to be in here.’ The doorman said, ‘Who the hell cares?’” When I was 18, I had no problems going in.
“Very free atmosphere in there, but you got to remember all these bars - Benny the Bums especially - were syndicate bars. “Once you got in the bar, it was very open, very celebrating,” Renslow said in a 2007 interview with Windy City Times publisher and executive editor Tracy Baim, who co-authored a biography about Renslow called Leatherman: The Legend of Chuck Renslow.