How LGBTQ+ Chicagoans can join Q Force to help sway battleground-state elections
LGBTQ+ Chicagoans are heading to neighboring battleground states to mobilize voters and help Democrats win in competitive races in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Q Force, a local grassroots organizing group, is ramping up its canvassing efforts in Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa as Election Day…
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ALMA Chicago to honor two community leaders at 5th annual reception
ALMA Chicago will recognize Dan Ingram and Jessica Carillo-Guerrero with its 2026 ALMA del Líder Awards during the organization’s fifth annual Community Reception. The reception, scheduled for 6-9 p.m. Oct. 22 at Barcocina Lakeview, 2901 N. Sheffield Ave., will feature food, drinks, a live drag performance and recognition of community leaders. The event also celebrates…
OPINION Trump tries walking back treasonous comments about San Diego and LA
On Oct. 5, during a Republican campaign rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, Trump minimized rising prices as a consequence of his war in Iran as a ‘small price to pay’ for long-term security. Another small price to pay, as he put it, would be the State of California. Discussing Iran, Trump declared: “They can take out a city. Let them take, let…
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IN BRIEF Kansas challenge, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Elliot Page, queer Taipei bar raided, Pet Shop Boys, ‘Heated Rivalry,’ Robin Roberts
Warning: This column mentions violent activities. NATIONAL While transgender and intersex Kansas residents challenge the state’s driver’s license and restroom restrictions, Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach contended that the plaintiffs have not shown the law harmed them, The Advocate reported. And to challenge their claims that the law could basically reveal them as trans or…
Nation & World
IN BRIEF Anti-trans Democrat; Renee Good; Mamdani and Jetten meet; Australia’s act; Indian film ‘Dorothy;’ ‘Rocky Horror’ bobbleheads; theater companies
Warning: This column mentions violent activities. NATIONAL The U.S. Education Department formally revoked the Biden-era Title IX guidelines that gave sex-based discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ students, The Hill reported. Schools now must revert to the…
Theater / Dance
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…
Music
MUSIC Riot Fest went boldly where no punk celebration had gone before
The legendary three-day punk rock music gathering known as Riot Fest returned to Chicago’s historic Douglass Park, 1401 S. Sacramento Dr., where it has been held annually since 2015. From Sept. 18-20, the anti-establishment event embraced raw energy on five stages, each beginning with the letter R: Riot, Roots, Rebel, Rise and Radical. Historically, punk…
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)…