Jake Wittich

Pride Month is in full swing, which means dozens of events are happening all across the city to celebrate Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community. The first week of Pride alone has everything from parties and art galleries to LGBTQ+ justice panels, sports gatherings and a candlelight vigil marking 45 years since the HIV epidemic began. To help […]

Local elected officials continued their annual Pride Month tradition of raising a Progress Pride Flag over Daley Plaza, using this year’s ceremony to warn that decades of progress on LGBTQ+ rights are under threat amid growing political attacks. Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, who hosted the ceremony, said the Progress Pride Flag serves as a […]

Logan Square neighbors and LGBTQ+ people from across the city raised a Progress Pride Flag over the Northwest Side neighborhood on June 1 in a jovial Pride Month kickoff that included drag, rainbow cupcakes and dance music. The tradition—now in its third year—served as a reminder that queer communities exist in every Chicago neighborhood and not just […]

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 new challenges for organizations serving vulnerable communities. Despite these pressures, […]

LGBTQ+ rights advocate, philanthropist and arts patron Fred Eychaner used a lifetime achievement award from the Chicago History Museum to warn that many of the freedoms and institutions he spent decades defending are under renewed attack. Accepting the museum’s Making History Award for Distinction in Visionary Leadership on June 3, Eychaner reflected on his experiences during […]

Forty-five years after the first reported AIDS cases appeared in a federal public health report, healthcare advocates and LGBTQ+ leaders held a candlelight vigil to argue that lessons from the AIDS epidemic remain relevant as federal healthcare cuts threaten access to care for millions of Americans. The June 5 gathering at Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted […]

Chicago Public Schools CEO Macquline King defended the district’s policies before members of Congress after being subpoenaed to testify at a hearing largely focused on transgender students and parental rights. King repeatedly emphasized that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) policies comply with Illinois law during the June 10 hearing by the U.S. House education committee, where King […]

Nikki Patin, who was named permanent CEO of Brave Space Alliance, speaks at the organization's Partners in Dignity Soirée in May. Photo by Vern Hester

Embodied, Brave Space Alliance Juneteenth and Pride variety show

Lighthosue Foundation's 2025 Black LGBTQ+ Beach Day. Photo provided by Lighthouse Foundation