— Soap Distillery’s Rainbow Soap (http://SoapDistillery.com): To help celebrate Pride Month, many businesses are offering rainbow versions of their products—and Chicago’s Soap Distillery is no exception. A portion of proceeds will benefit the Broadway Youth Center, a local non-profit organization that houses and offers programs to LGBTQ youth. However, Soap Distillery has many other items, from Lavender Bitters Body Oil to Mint Mojito Lip Balm.
—Heritage Restaurant & Caviar Bar (2700 W. Chicago Ave.; http://www.heritage-chicago.com/): For Pride Month, this spot is donating $1 for every Slony Markarons—a cocktail consisting of gin, grapefruit, lemon and serrano-berto bitters with a sliver of cilantro, surrounded by a salty rim—to the Center on Halsted’s Anti-Violence Project. For Father’s Day, Heritage is offering various meal packages, such as the “Superhero My Two Dads” kit ($225), which has items such as a crab-claw cocktail; bourbon-glazed hot smoked salmon with green beans, salsa verde and carrot couscous; 12 Chebooktook oysters (from New Brunswick) with giardiniera mignonette and lemons; yuzu curd tart meringue and chocolate ice cream; a bottle of cabernet; and more.
—UniQuely-Kreated Kandles (http://www.facebook.com/UniQuely-Kreated-110175634478304/ or 847-243-3658): This LGBTQ-owned business specializes in gel wax scented candles that come in a variety of colors, and there are rainbow items as well—fitting for Pride Month. As for those scents, there are many fruit-related ones (lemon, papaya, red cherry, pineapple, etc.) as well as aromas such as Ocean Breeze, Bergamot and Night Air.
—Gene & Georgetti’s Pride Brunch with Honey West (500 N. Franklin St.; RSVP at http://www.opentable.com/r/gene-and-georgetti-chicago or 312-527-3718): The Chicago steakhouse marks 80 years of business with a Pride brunch on Sunday, June 27, 9 a.m.-3 a.m. West, an iconic trans entertainer, has been a hit on the cabaret circuit since her debut in the 1990 one-woman show A Taste of Honey. She has won two After Dark Awards as Chicago’s Outstanding Cabaret Entertainer as well as several other honors and accolades.
—Screening on documentary 5B with Billy Porter: On June 24, 6-8:30 p.m. ET, activist/actor Billy Porter (Pose)—who recently revealed his own HIV diagnosis—will join Michael Sneed, EVP of global cultural affairs for Johnson & Johnson’s (which, in addition to helping the world fight COVID, is currently working on a HIV vaccine) for a free special screening of award-winning documentary 5B, a press item noted. The film chronicles the stories of the heroic nurses who risked their lives to found the world’s first AIDS Ward. Immediately following the screening, Porter will participate in a fireside chat with 5B nurse Alison Moed Paolercio, RN MS; and nurse, entrepreneur, innovator and author Rebecca Love RN, MSN, FIEL. RSVP at http://jnjmeetings.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zNPrkj1JRV6szhiV7AVzdw.