PRIDEChicago opens public nominations for 2027 community grand marshals
Nominations launch October 1 for the 57th Annual Chicago Pride Parade, continuing a tradition of honoring grassroots leaders and local trailblazers. PRIDEChicago, the volunteer-powered nonprofit organization behind the historic Chicago Pride Parade, announced today that nominations are officially open for the Community Grand Marshals who…
Keep readingRecent News
THEATER Lookingglass Theatre tells a tall tale of Tennessee in ‘Kowalski’
“I don’t want realism. I want magic!” Blanche DuBois says in the 1947 play A Streetcar Named Desire. A new Lookingglass Theatre Company production, titled after that play’s main character, Stanley Kowalski, is a magical fantasy Blanche would surely appreciate. Kowalski is a fictional story where Marlon Brando visits Tennessee Williams in his Provincetown, Massachusetts, beach house…
LGBTQ+ artists and businesses find community at Andersonville Arts Weekend
“Art is my reason for being here,” Chicago artist Nicholas Holman said of his participation in Andersonville Art Weekend, which took place Sept. 25-27. “In my work, I’m more in tune with those parts of me that are true and authentic, I do what I want to do and I think that does pertain to…
View All News
Barbara Fest starts new queer tradition for Chicago
Under a clear blue sky on Sept. 27, Barbara&Barbara Salon presented the inaugural Barbara Fest in a secluded field across from First Presbyterian Church of Chicago at 6400 S. Kimbark Ave. The event aimed to raise funds for ALMA, Lace and Liberation, and Brave Space Alliance while also celebrating the city’s BIPOC LGBTQ+ Community. The festival also…
Nation & World
IN BRIEF Dignity USA leader steps down, Club Q lawsuit, GLAAD Media Awards, Ukrainian law, gay men disappear, Ginger Minj, ‘Rock Out,’ ‘Glee’ reboot
Warning: This column mentions violent activities. NATIONAL Marianne Duddy-Burke has decided to step down from being executive director of the LGBTQ+ Catholic organization Dignity USA. On Facebook, she stated, in part, “The past few years…
Theater / Dance
THEATER Handbag sends Joan Crawford on encore trip to ‘Hell’
In the first chapter of My Way of Life, Joan Crawford’s 1971 tome intended (according to its dust jacket) “for every woman who wants to live beautifully and successfully,” Crawford pontificates on the idea of regret. “People are always asking me if there’s anything I regret, or would change,” she writes. “The answer is no! Not…
Music
MUSIC Melanie C is set to break a ‘Sweat’ in Chicago
Melanie Chisholm became part of a cultural pop phenomenon as Sporty Spice in the Spice Girls before she carved out a career as a solo artist. Nine albums later, she headlines a 25-city North American Tour that bringing her Sweat to the Windy City this September.The record’s title track “Sweat” samples Diana Ross’ “Work That Body” and…
Film / TV / Gossip
BUSINESS Yvonne Welbon uplifts Black women and gender-expansive creatives with Sisters in Cinema
When lifelong Chicagoan and Sisters in Cinema Founder and CEO Yvonne Welbon started her Master of Fine Arts in film and video program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1991 she knew the name of only one African American woman director, Julie Dash. “When I asked one of my professors to help me find…
Books / Art
Trans
IN BRIEF Election items, ‘Witt v. Air Force,’ Mount Sinai’s anti-trans move, Switzerland’s government, Freddie Mercury mural, WNBA, Janet Jackson, ‘Tip Toe’
Warning: This column mentions details of killings. NATIONAL In Indiana, six candidates for Owen County township offices in the November election are coming out to voters, introducing themselves on two billboards, WISH noted. The promotion, paid for by the Stonewall Democrats of South Central Indiana, marks the first time the organization has endorsed any candidates…
Lesbian
Chicagoans reflect on Gloria Steinem’s relationship with LGBTQ+ community
Gloria Steinem is being remembered as a feminist leader and icon. But the Chicagoans who interacted with her said she never made the movement about her—it was about all of us. “She treated everyone like a peer,” said Illinois State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, who met Steinem several times, starting when Cassidy worked for the National Organization for Women’s (NOW)…