BLACKlines, a specialty publication covering Chicago’s Black LGBTQ+ community from 1996-2004, revived as a free monthly newsletter. Sign up here.
Chicago HIV advocate Keith Green honored at national Truth Awards
Chicago-based HIV advocate Keith Green was honored March 21 with the Bayard Rustin Advocacy Award at the annual Truth Awards, recognizing his decades of work advancing care and visibility for Black LGBTQ+ communities. Presented by ViiV Healthcare, the award places Green among a national group of honorees celebrated for their impact of Black LGBTQ+ life, culture…
Out the Archives: U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun on LGBTQ+ Rights and AIDS in 1997
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 March 1997 issue of BLACKlines. Elected in 1992, Carol Moseley-Braun became the first African-American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate, wrote…
Gerber/Hart dips into archives to mark Black History Month
Black LGBTQ+ History was the focus of a Life is Work-hosted presentation, Black Queer History: Celebrating the Black LGBTQ+ Community in Chicago and the Midwest Through the Archives, on Feb. 26 at the organization’s resource center location in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. Gerber/Hart Library and Archives Operations Director Erin Bell led the discussion. She first detailed Gerber/Hart’s work, then reflected…
Out the Archives: Jesse Jackson at the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights
Today, we revisit coverage from Windy City Times and Outlines of the Oct. 11, 1987, March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. This was a historic gathering that drew hundreds of thousands to the nation’s capital at the height of the AIDS crisis and amid escalating battles over civil rights. Among the speakers was…
VIEWPOINT: Black queer history matters
Black History Month is a time to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and courageous acts of people of African descent in the United States and around the world.This year Black History Month celebrates its 100th anniversary. Yet Black History Month has failed to fully acknowledge or celebrate the contributions of Black LGBTQ+ people. Our icons…
Equality Illinois leader at 2026 gala: Organization “built to face” political challenges
Equality Illinois’s new CEO, Channyn Lynne Parker, gave the keynote at the rights-advocacy’s 2026 annual gala the evening of Jan. 31, where she asserted that the event, which according to estimates hosted about 1,500 attendees, was “not just a gala—it is a sanctuary.” Parker praised both Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, both of whom…
Out the Archives: A BLACKlines interview with trans leader Lorraine Sade Baskerville
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 June 2000 issue of BLACKlines interview with Lorraine Sade Baskerville, a pioneering transgender activist, social worker and community builder who died recently…
Antonio King named Chicago’s Director of LGBTQ+ Affairs
Mayor Brandon Johnson has appointed Antonio King as Chicago’s Director of LGBTQ+ Affairs. King is a longtime city employee and LGBTQ+ health advocate who previously served as the LGBTQ+ Health and Outreach Liaison at the Chicago Department of Public Health. His appointment comes after years of calls from advocates for a more visible, centralized point person on LGBTQ+ policy…
PASSAGES Saundra Johnson
HIV/AIDS activist Saundra DeAnné Johnson died Jan. 21 due to complications from chronic congestive heart failure and kidney failure illnesses. She was 65. Johnson, an out queer woman, was born Oct. 13, 1960, and grew up in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood. She graduated from Hyde Park Academy High School. One of the things she did while in high school…
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…
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