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 ›

Chicago Rowing Union (CRU)—the Midwest’s only GLBT rowing organization and one of three such clubs in the world—introduces some 30 new people to the sport each year, according to founding member and board president Scott Curcio. “Many of those are from the LGBT community, and many have never participated in team sports before,” explains Curcio, 32, a real estate consultant. 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 ›

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival. 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 ›

Think of a film series as a mixtape that you listen to one song at a time, once a week. Each title enriches the previous ones, and experiencing them in sequence means a heightened appreciation for all of them. Two upcoming series offer a great chance to see some classic (and not-so-classic) movies in context. more ›

So after all that hand-wringing and hoopla surrounding the proposed GBLT-friendly School for Social Justice Pride Campus or whatever they finally decided to call it, planners of the high school have decided to once again shelve plans for the school a day before the plan was to go before the school board. It seems that even after trying to rework the structure of the school so as to allow other "disenfranchised" students, they faced a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation: criticism from opponents who called it segregation and criticism from supporters who decried the new plan as "watered down." Chicago Public School district spokesman Michael Vaughn said, "There are some members of the design team who felt it was watered down too much and there was not enough consensus...to move forward as it stood." So now what? Well, it seems it's back to the drawing board for the team, who plan to come back with a new plan next year and hopes of opening the school in 2010. more ›

It looks like Chicago’s first high school for GLBT students may not be back in the closet after all. Last month, a plan to open Pride Campus of Social Justice High School was shot down by Mayor Daley over concerns that the school amounted to segregation. The plan, however, has now been revived and retooled. Pride Campus will now be called Social Justice Solidarity High School and will allow kids who are bullied for other reasons. “They wanted to try and make sure that the scope was broadened so that kids who are isolated for other issues, whether that be religion, obesity or other things that kids get teased about...have a spot at that school too,” said Chicago Public Schools spokesman Michael Vaughen to the Chicago Tribune. 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 ›

survivor Lisa Ling to investigate animal abuse in puppy mills, though the episode is officially tied to the death of Oprah's dog and not to the billboard that's been up for months asking her to address the issue. We're still waiting to hear back from spokesfolk at Harpo about any connection to the sign. 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 ›

Aside from small-scale studies linking sexual-minority youth with high suicide attempt rates, there isn't a ton of concrete information about the higher risk of suicide among GLBT youth — U.S. data does not track sexual orientation as a factor in suicides. Still, there was a study in New Zealand that showed that they were six times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers, and it seems generally agreed upon that the risk is... more ›

With summer easing onto its laurels and panting in the heat, it's easy to get into a mindset that all the fun the season brings to Chicago is over. Not so! While the rest of the city is waiting for the humidity to give way to fall, you could squeeze in some more entertainment, in the form of Queerfest Midwest. The event, from noon to 10pm on Saturday at the Pulaski Fieldhouse in Wicker Park,... more ›

- People keep giving Barack Obama money. This quarter he raised $34 million for his Presidential campaign. - Capitalism in action: The Mercantile Exchange will cut 400 Board of Trade jobs in their merger and receive as much as $40 million in aid from the city to assist in getting the world's biggest futures market off and running. - The Chicago Landmarks Commission designates 208 S. LaSalle with landmark status. - Another Whole Foods... more ›

Yes, that’s Mayor Daley in this blurry photo. Some microphone guy from WGN bumped into us as we were trying to snap a photograph. The Mayor was speaking in circles before the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community at the annual reception he hosts for said community at the Chicago Cultural Center. It’s official now, through a proclamation signed by the Mayor himself, June is now Pride Month. Proclamations are sort of trendy nowadays, with... more ›

Oh, we enterprising gays. First we gentrify the gayborhood. The next thing you know we’re creating gay sports leagues and gay churches. And Tuesday Mayor Daley will join us hand-in-hand as we cut the ribbon to our brand new Center on Halsted, a gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community center that blows the door off the closet for GLBT centers across the country. There are about 160 GLBT centers in the U.S., but none are... more ›

Joel Bleifuss, of In These Times, released a "‘how-to’ guide to avoid offending anyone" offering wordsmiths around the Chicago area the opportunity to offer their expertise on political correctness (PC) and how PC has shaped the way we communicate. Rinku Sen from Colorlines, Tracy Baim from Windy City Times and Lott Hill from Columbia College in Chicago In These Times, by far one of the boldest of the cities publications, focuses mainly on the cultural... more ›

The ongoing saga of The Spire continues. This week in Foods We Can't Eat: Onions at Taco Bell. Pepsi is reorganizing and centralizing some of its operations in Chicago. And this week in GLBT news: Gay and Lesbian travelers love Chicago. We're #11 on the list of top destinations. And there's now a Chicago Gay Games DVD. And finally, the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus has a new CD out. Go see some Iraqi art... more ›

City officials have been known to capture the excitement of a cultural festival by declaring “Today we are all Irish!” to a crowd in Beverly or “Today we are all Polish!” to Jefferson Parkers. It’s amusing to think we’ll hear a Commissioner proclaim “Today we are all gay!” when the Gay Games open Saturday night, but Mayor Daley expressed his more than symbolic support earlier this week, thanking the out and proud (and commerce seeking)... more ›

If you notice a bunch of gays and lesbians walking down Michigan Ave. this weekend with reporter notebook and pen in hand, they're here for the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association's 15th annual convention. Say hi. Okay, so they probably won't be walking down Michigan Ave. with reporter notebooks. They're likely at the Palmer House Hilton listening to such gay journalist luminaries like Chad Allen (yes, that Chad Allen) speak on topics like freelancing,... more ›

This time of year, it seems you’re either on vacation or thinking about it. For those of you lucky enough to be in the first category and lucky enough to Wake Up in the City That Never Sleeps, consider taking in a show at The New York International Fringe Fest. Chicago companies are once again well represented, and you might be the lucky first to see another offbeat hit. Chicago at FringeNYC: The Last Two... more ›

Today marks the groundbreaking for Chicago's new GLBT community center. When the 55,000 square foot Center on Halsted opens next year, it'll be the largest such facility in the Midwest and rival other gay and lesbian centers in New York and San Francisco. more ›

The Center on Halsted, the future social center for wayward boys-who-like-boys and girls-who-like-girls in Lakeview, was awarded a stunning $50,000 grant to begin funding the gymnasium project at the Center. The generous donation comes from the Chicago Cubs, and Cubs Care, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. Chicagoist can’t say that we remember the last time we needed a gymnasium, but we're sure, that when it is built, the floors will stay so shiny... more ›

Just a reminder - we're still accepting applications for food/restaurants, fine arts, and GLBT contributors. Tell your friends, coworkers, family, neighbors, anyone who may be interested to send an email to both Rachelle & Margaret for more information. In the subject line make sure you specify which position you're interested in. And in the email let us know a bit about yourself and why you'd like to join us. more ›

You've probably noticed that our IST family has been expanding like crazy and here at Chicagoist we have been growing too. more ›

Tonight begins Reeling 2004: The 23rd Annual Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival. Presented by Chicago Filmmakers and running through November 11th, Reeling is the 2nd oldest GLBT film fest in the U.S. and prides (pardon the pun) itself on showing a wide variety of films. It even claims that “many consider the festival to be the highlight of their cinematic year.” Oh the modesty! Check their website for ticket info and the full schedule. The opening night film is D.E.B.S., the feature-length version of a short film by Angela Robinson that makes the rounds on Sundance Channel from time to time. more ›

We�re trying hard here at the Chicagoist offices to be respectful of lots of different political views, but there comes a time when we need to be upfront: Alan Keyes is totally fucking crazy. First, Alan Keyes flipped out at a reporter from the Trib; now, he�s gone the extra mile by calling homosexuality �selfish hedonism.� Well played, Alan. Moderate conservatives eat that shit up. Yes, gay marriage is an important topic this year, and it�s worth debating on lots of levels, but we�re pretty sure that this is over the line. more ›

It's the freakin weekend, baby I'm about to have me some fun. Why is Chicagoist so excited for the weekend? Maybe it's because August just drags and drags, with no holidays and nothing in particular to rock out to. Bleeh. That's why we're so excited for Northalsted Market Days tomorrow and Sunday. Did you know that it's the longest-running two-day street fair in the Midwest? Yeah. It is. more ›