Join Equality Illinois and Sluggers Sports Bar for a casual social to celebrate Opening Day 2012 tomorrow from 6-9 p.m. more ›

Illinois becomes the 10th state, along with the District of Columbia, to allow same-sex couples to file joint tax returns. more ›

Upon hearing about a new initiative allowing gender-variant customers to use public bathrooms of their choice, we can just see the thought-bubble appearing above certain individuals’ pert little heads: Will this project make women unsafe in bathrooms? Will a woman need to urinate next to a man? In a word—No. (But more on that later.) more ›

Huge, positively shocking news from the LGBT desk today. Equality Illinois cut ties with its longtime director of public policy and co-founder, Rick Garcia. Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov confirmed the announcement to Windy City Times, after a meeting today with Equality Illinois stakeholders the night before. more ›

"Hey, those people are naked! And they're voting! I want to vote with my genitals fully exposed!" That's what you might have thought - I know I did - when you saw Equality Illinois' Nudity-Related Political Clip of the Week. When did the process to create this microviral video clip begin? Is the Vote Naked Illinois group using the naked human form an easy way to sell a part of the political process? How much response has the clip recieved, and has it moved anyone to actually vote? more ›

Looking for an excuse not to cook dinner tonight? Why not show your support for the LGBT community by Dining Out for Equality? Today, proceeds from your meal at any of some 14 restaurants will benefit Equality Illinois, the state's leading organization working to support legal progress for the gays. And all you have to do is show up and chow down. more ›

State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) may have just narrowly won the GOP's stamp of approval for his gubernatorial run, but a bill he authored was not as successful this week, as SB 3447, which would allow certain tax-exempt religious organizations to discriminate against prospective employees on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or religion, was not called to vote Tuesday. more ›

Recent months have seen a number of setbacks for gay marriage advocates, including notable losses in Maine, New York and - most recently - New Jersey, but Illinois activists have hit the ground running in their quest for same-sex civil union protections in the new year. more ›

After the recent decision to allow gay marriage in Iowa, there's been cause for optimism amongst supporters in Illinois. Whispers grew a little louder on Monday when Gov. Quinn, speaking at Harper College in Palatine, indicated that a civil union law may not be far away for Illinois. Said Quinn: "I think that's probably where the legislature is headed in the state." With a civil union bill currently in the General Assembly, it's a distinct possibility. However, there are indications that a law allowing gay marriage isn't in the state's near-future. The Times and Democrat - a paper based out of South Carloina, of all places - addressed the issue this week. more ›

House Bill 2234, known as The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, made it out of committee this week, and will now go before the full General Assembly for debate. The bill, which guarantees some of the rights and responsibilities to persons in civil unions that are currently granted to persons in civil marriages, including hospital visitation, the right to make decisions about a partners medical care, and survivors benefits. The bill gives religious institutions the right not to solemnize civil unions. HB 2234 does not legalize gay marriage. more ›

Chicagoist found this bizarre video today: Yes, yes, the video is juvenile, disjointed, mildly delusional, and most likely from someone that has no affiliation whatsoever to the fellow that is challenging 46th Ward Alderman Helen Shiller this winter. But if you add it up with some other tidbits, you can see that Shiller is going to have to run a campaign this year to hold on to her office. Besides this bit of weirdness, there... more ›

We held off writing anything about gay marriage opponents trying to get a referendum to change the Illinois Constitution to define marriage as a relationship between a woman and a man on the November ballot because we didn’t want to give the haters at Protect Marriage Illinois any attention, and we hoped they would fail in their quest to collect the needed signatures. The good news is that organizers of the referendum fell short in... more ›

As Pride Weekend gears up, gay news is spewing forth from Chicago faster than Jerry Falwell can yell "boycott!" A few gay briefs: · A recent poll commissioned by Equality Illinois found that while a majority of your neighbors would reject a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, most don't favor marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples. Even though no amendment is likely to be introduced soon, 67% of those polled would vote no, only... more ›

Michael Anderson, a senior staff member at Howard Brown Health Center, was arrested yesterday for dealing crystal meth, the same drug his employer was fighting. Howard Brown is the midwest's largest gay and lesbian health center. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, police found 109 grams of meth worth about $36,000 in Anderson's Lakeview apartment and then arrested him at work. He allegedly told police he was selling the drugs to pay for his own habit.... more ›