The Wise Kids took home the Grand Jury Awards for outstanding U.S. dramatic feature film and outstanding screenwriting. more ›

Cinema Q, a four-week series at the Chicago Cultural Center, highlights some outstanding movies made in Chicago which explore gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered themes. Kicking things off on March 16 is the essential documentary Quearborn & Perversion. In it, filmmaker Ron Pajak chronicles the GLBT history of Chicago, unearthing some priceless stories and surprising facts. Indeed, the documentary's title refers to the nickname given to the neighborhood of Dearborn and Division, where several clandestine gay bars once operated. (Isn't it a bit ironic that Chicago's former gay 'hood is now known as the Viagra Triangle?) Pajak will be present for a post-screening Q & A. more ›

If filmmaker Andrew Blubaugh ever decides to put down the camera, he might want to consider a career in tightrope-walking or mine-clearing. If his excellent debut feature is any indication, he has a knack for navigating treacherous terrain and emerging triumphant. more ›

Though we're not usually one to turn down a chance to show a little hometown pride, we must admit some of us were left scratching our heads at recent news that Roscoe's Tavern has been selected as a finalist in the Top Five Gay Bars in the World competition by TripOutGayTravel. The news prompted us here at Chicagoist to give a shout to some of our favorite homosexual drinking establishments. more ›

Per a recent interview with Gay Chicago Magazine, staunch LGBT ally U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago) is reportedly "hopeful" for progress on a number of pieces of queer-centric legislation in Congress yet this year, but has admitted it's unlikely LGBT issues will see much movement prior to this fall's midterm elections. more ›

Chicago seemingly got the shaft in a Daily Beast piece published yesterday and misleadingly titled: "America's Top 20 Gayest Cities," but given the piece's problematic focus on only one of any number of metrics of queer life, we wouldn't take it too much to heart. Home to our raucously rainbow-infused annual Pride, the annual International Mr. Leather and a robust local queer scene, we know in our hearts Chicago is here and queer to stay. more ›

As June approaches its end and the weather becomes increasingly unpredictable, one of the city's biggest and most rainbow-intensive annual parties also looms. This Sunday, the 41st annual Chicago Pride celebration in the city culminates with the raucous parade down Halsted, an event that typically attracts upwards of 500,000 drunk people and politicians to Boystown. But the parade is only part of the grandiose gayness the city has to offer for those looking to show some Pride this week. more ›

Oak Brook-headquartered McDonald's is coming under heat from LGBT activists following a contentious statement made by the company's number-two in a Trib interview. The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the country's largest LGBT business association, has announced it's cut all ties with the fast-food giant. more ›

The month of May drawing to an end represents more than just a long weekend filled with barbecues, day drinking and other non-work-related shenanigans. It also means June is right around the corner. And with it comes a lot of gay, culminating in the Boystown Pride Parade the last Sunday of the month. But perhaps more exciting, and immediate, is the 'First Pride' Art Gala, a one-off media/art/music extravaganza set for Tuesday at Creative Lounge Chicago in Wicker Park. more ›

The people of Port Gamble have many differences between them - politics, ideologies, religion and sexual orientation to name a few - but they must come together a battle a zombie virus in this film being screened Friday as part of the Reeling International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. The festival concludes Sunday. more ›

1981: Walter Cronkite retires from CBS Evening News, Lady Di weds Prince Charles, MTV goes on the air. And in a 90-seat folding-chair screening room at Chicago Filmmakers on West Hubbard, Reeling, the first Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival, takes place. 1981 also saw the first recognized cases of AIDS in five gay men. A lot has changed in 28 years. HIV is no longer the automatic death sentence it once was, and culturally LGBT people are more visible than ever before. But Reeling is still a crucial festival, a yearly opportunity to dive into the culture on its own terms rather than in sitcom-ready chunks. more ›

Later Tunney acknowledged that there isn’t a consensus in the LGBT community whether to pursue a special category as a qualified minority. He told the Sun-Times: more ›

Richard Knight, Jr. is senior film critic for the Windy City Times and also one half of the gay cinema duo The Movie Queens. We've profiled them before and they're back with a new episode, delving into the homoeroticism of superhero movies. Batman's rubber nipples, Professor Xavier and Magneto's gay banter in X Men, and the completely unsubtle camptastic qualities of 300 all go under the microscope. If only they'd talked about the new Transformers movie! Then again, with all that crunching metal and stick shifting, perhaps it's worthy of its own episode. The Fast & the Bi-Curious indeed. more ›

A Chicago activist was arrested along with a large group of other protesters in Moscow on Saturday during a gay rights demonstration near Moscow State University. “If...the right to assemble is taken away from lesbian and gay people here in Russia, then other Russians have to fear for their own freedom,” said Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network here in Chicago, before police detained him according to a Tribune report. A spokesman for the Moscow police said 40 people were seized, but media reports put the number at 80. more ›

Hell yes! Pansy Division, the first openly gay punk band from the ‘90s, is coming out all over again—a new record on Alternative Tentacles titled That’s So Gay, a documentary just released on DVD, and a memoir by founding member Jon Ginoli, Deflowered: my life in Pansy Division. more ›

A 17-year-old girl is suing her high school in Lebanon, Indiana because they refused to let her wear a tuxedo to her high school prom. The student says she is a lesbian and doesn't wear dresses because they represent a sexual identity she rejects. The principal at the high school, located northwest of Indianapolis, claims that there is a special dress code for the prom that requires female students to wear a formal gown, but the ACLU of Indiana--which filed the claim on her behalf--say that the policy violates federal law because the school receives federal funding and because it violates her right of expression. more ›

Mayor Daley’s pick to head Chicago Public Schools might have to be approved by the City Council. That’s according to a lawsuit filed by activist and 2007 Mayoral candidate William Dock Walls, who’s just the latest critic to sound off on the appointment of Ron Huberman as CPS CEO. The lawsuit argues that Huberman’s appointment has to comply the city municipal code, which states that the City Council must approve “all officers of the city” who are picked by the mayor. But the mayor receives the power to choose the CEO from state law, which doesn’t say anything about the city council. The lawsuit, however, argues that the state law doesn’t indicate that the city council can be left out of the decision-making process. more ›

Gay and straight, black and white, young and old came together yesterday in Federal Plaza to protest the passing of California’s Proposition 8, which amends California’s constitution banning any marriage that is not between a man and a woman. Reportedly, over 2,000 people gathered, banners and rainbow flags in hand before marching on City Hall and eventually to Michigan Avenue. more ›

Last night, about 150+ protesters showed up outside the Renaissance Hotel, where the Chicago Museum of Broadcast Communications was inducting into the Radio Hall of Fame Focus on the Family’s James Dobson. Dobson donated $800,000 to California’s Proposition 8, which passed last week, amending California’s constitution, removing the right of gay men and lesbian women to marry. more ›

CIFF is barely a memory and CUFF just wrapped up yesterday. Have we room for another film festival in Chicago? Of course! And this one isn't an acronym for a change. The 27th incarnation of Reeling, the second-oldest LGBT film festival in the world, runs November 6-16 and features approximately 70 movies. Opening the festival is Breakfast with Scot, starring Tom Cavanagh and Ben Shenkman. Documentaries, experimental films, feature-length narratives and shorts are all part of the lineup. New this year is "Rock Reeling," two evenings of music videos giving recognition to the indie queer music frontier. more ›

Would a public school that caters to gay and lesbian teens be a welcome addition to CPS? That was the question at hand during a meeting of about 200 people yesterday at the Center on Halsted who discussed The Social Justice High School – Pride Campus with leaders of the Gay Liberation Network. The idea for this new school, born of a push from Greater Lawndale Little Village High School for Social Justice, is that it would provide a safe learning environment for LGBT teens who are frequently victims of torment. more ›

OUT has named what they deem to be the 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums of All Time, and we didn't see a single Chicagoan on the list How could they overlook R Kelly's "Trapped In The Closet" saga? We call foul! more ›

Logo Online has released a feature, “The Best Gay Bars in America.” And two local stomping grounds have made the list. more ›

Who’s your daddy? Gary Iriza, Mr. Palm Springs Leather 2008, is your daddy, sir. Iriza took the leather sash at the XXX International Mr. Leather (IML) Competition Sunday night. (The XXX stands for 30th anniversary, people.) IML is a beauty pageant of sorts, celebrating masculinity and a lifestyle of leather. IML has its roots in the Mr. Gold Coast contest, held in the historic Gold Coast Leather Bar. It expanded to a larger venue in 1979, and with the larger venue came the expanded “international” title. more ›

Howard Brown announced a partnership this week, forming the Chicago Elder Services Community Initiative, that is designed to create a model of care for local LGBT elders. On board is also Council for Jewish Elderly-Senior Life, Heartland Alliance, Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter and Rush University Medical Center. more ›

, About Face Theater's current production up at Center on Halsted, is supposed to have a nude scene in it. But the Chicago version has the boys in their manpanties, and the playwright is none too pleased with the sanitized version of his work. more ›

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Wow, Alderman Tom Tunney has been having an interesting couple of months. First he gets a ticket for talking on his cell phone while driving and may have received special favors from the police department, then he makes a sweet deal and moves his flagship Ann Sather's, and now it's being reported that Tunney was the victim of an attempted holdup yesterday afternoon just a block from his 44th ward office. more ›

Interview: The Movie Queens more ›