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Out the Archives: The Black Gay and Lesbian Archive Project
Out the Archives is a recurring feature diving into the Windy City Times collection, offering a look back at the rich history of LGBTQ+ Chicago.In this edition, we look back at the May 2003 issue of BLACKlines. For more Black LGBTQ+ news—past and present—please sign up for our monthly BLACKlines newsletter. Beginning with musings on how…
Black Women & HIV mixed media exhibit to launch on World AIDS Day
CHICAGO, IL – November 7, 2025 – Chicago’s own award winning journalist Anna DeShawn is launching a new series titled, “Shine a Light on It: Black Women, HIV & Its Impact,” a powerful mixed-media exhibit scheduled to open on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2025, at the Beverly Arts Center in Chicago. This project was created out of urgency,…
Honey Pot Performance: Performing and telling heartfelt stories about the Black experience for 25 years
For a quarter-century, Honey Pot Performance(HPP)—an interdisciplinary beacon for Black women at a variety of intersections—has been educating, entertaining and enthralling audiences, telling stories that are rooted in pleasure, memory and radical imagination. In addition, Honey Pot Performance is celebrating its ongoing partnership with the historic First Church of the Brethren in Chicago’s East Garfield…
Affinity Community Services holds ‘Sneaker Soiree’ celebration
Affinity Community Services (Affinity) celebrated its 30th anniversary with a Sneaker Soiree: We’re On the Move event Oct. 18 at the Charles A. Hayes Center in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. The theme Affinity (which serves Black LGBTQ+ Chicagoans) chose for this year is “Honoring Our Past, Creating Our Futures” to show their appreciation for the organization’s “history and the…
Center on Halsted CEO Joli Angel Robinson named to Out Magazine’s 2025 Out100
Center on Halsted CEO Joli Angel Robinson named to Out Magazine’s 2025 Out100By Jake Wittich Center on Halsted CEO Joli Robinson has been named to Out Magazine’s 2025 Out100 list, recognizing her among the year’s most influential LGBTQ+ leaders. Robinson earned the honor for her work leading one of the Midwest’s largest LGBTQ+ community centers and for advancing equity, belonging and leadership development…
TaskForce Prevention and Community Services invites Chicagoans to ‘Vogue for Good’
Photos by Vern Hester TaskForce Prevention and Community Services (TaskForce) held its annual Vogue for Good celebration of community, culture and resilience event Oct. 9 at the Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W. Jackson Blvd. This year’s theme was “Honoring Our History.” The event also paid homage to the 35th anniversary of the groundbreaking ballroom-focused documentary…
E3 Radio looks to the future with 2025 Purple Tie Affair
On Oct. 4, E3 Radio held the 11th Annual Purple Tie Affair, at Sidetrack Video Bar in front of a packed room. The event not only aimed to refill the coffers for itself but to also give back to Task Force Prevention Services, while pointing to the need for and importance of local queer and Black journalism.…
Out the Archives: A look back to 1996 and HIV prevention work in the Black community
Out the Archives is a recurring feature diving into the Windy City Times collection, offering a look back at the rich history of LGBTQ+ Chicago. In this edition, we look back at the February 1996 issue of BLACKlines, which included writer Shamara Riley’s coverage of HIV prevention work in the Black community. For more Black…
PERFORMANCE Queer storyteller talks about channeling 19th-century queer activist
It’s unlikely that many people have heard of William Dorsey Swann. Some people have recognized Swann as the first LGBTQ+ person to lead a resistance movement, and he was known as a leading drag figure. And Swann—a Black person—did these things in the late 19th century in the South. In the upcoming production The Real Black…
Esteem Awards celebrates a ‘mosaic’ of LGBTQ+ leaders
“We are trailblazers, we are educators, we are innovators. We areunstoppable,” spoke Michelle Brown to a crowd of awardees, familymembers and friends at Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted St., for the 2025 Esteem Awards on July 5. The awards celebrated an array of change-makers, artists and community leaders. Among the awardees were Roderick Hawkins with the…
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