Howard Brown Health CEO warns federal health cuts could threaten HIV progress, healthcare access
Howard Brown Health CEO Travis Gayles, MD, said proposed federal health funding cuts could undermine healthcare access, HIV prevention efforts and other services that many LGBTQ+ Chicagoans rely on. Gayles said healthcare providers are operating under “uncertainty, confusion and chaos” as federal funding decisions create…
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THEATER Handbag’s Golden Girls return with fun ‘Cheese Pyramid’ scheme
I don’t have the bonafides of a true cheesemonger, but I do fancy myself as sort of a minor cheese expert. I come from a small town in southwest Wisconsin, whose high school sports team was known as the Cheesemakers. I know enough to accurately guess how long a cheddar has been aged for, and…
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Advocates celebrate passage of bill ensuring more access to perscription hormone therapy
SPRINGFIELD, ILL. – The Illinois General Assembly has passed legislation that supports patients’ access to prescription hormone therapy by requiring insurance policies to cover up to a six-month supply. HB 5492 is the initiative of Equality Illinois, Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action, and Planned Parenthood Illinois Action. Sponsored by Illinois House Assistant Majority Leader Katie…
Nation & World
IN BRIEF Jason Collins, trans student stabbed, Warsaw’s pro-marriage move, Uganda drops bill, INK, Janet Jackson, Sally Field
NATIONAL Jason Collins—the NBA’s first openly gay player, who went on to become a pioneer for inclusion—died at age 47 after an eight-month battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer, according to media reports.…
Theater / Dance
THEATER/FILM Chicago celebrates Pride on stage and screen this month
Whether you are in the mood to laugh or cry, Chicago theaters are offering incredible entertainment options to help us celebrate Pride Month. Read below to discover some of Windy City Times’s favorite theater and film options for the month of June. Theater The complexity involved with being a 20th Century homosexual surely played a…
Music
Chicago singers help Belting for Life reach new heights
On May 11, the 11th annual Belting for Life Concert reached a new milestone. The event, a fundraiser for AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) was the most successful Belting for Life event yet, nearly selling out SPACE at 1245 Chicago Ave. in Evanston. Conceived, produced and curated by Christopher Pazdernik—and taking place on his birthday—Belting for…
Film / TV / Gossip
FILM The Chicago Critics Film Festival winds up with a Wilde week in the Windy City
The Chicago Critics Film Festival is curated by the Chicago Film Critics Association and is the only United States film festival programmed exclusively by critics. Founded in 1990, the Chicago Film Critics Association supports filmmaking and is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization. For its 13th edition, the CCFF was held from May 1-7 in 2026, at…
Books / Art
Trans
Federal appellate court blocks Trump’s military ban, stopping discharge of transgender service members
WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a decision in Talbott v. USA (formerly Talbott v. Trump) upholding a preliminary injunction halting the discharge of transgender service members The preliminary injunction was issued by District Court Judge Ana Reyes on March 18, 2025. In a forceful order in which Reyes held that…
Lesbian
Chicago advocate Norma Seledon mentors a new generation
Norma Seledon’s mother was a teacher who often provided additional lessons to her six children after school. Seledon herself didn’t take a traditional path to teaching like her mother’s, but she still felt that call to help and mentor others. Now 63 with decades of service to the Latino and LGBTQ+ communities behind her, seledon…