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 ›

Typically, a summer film centered on the family dynamics between a suburban middle-class married couple and their two children hardly feels like the sort of thing that could be described as even remotely "radical," nor a "hit." But through her latest creation, The Kids Are All Right, film writer and director Lisa Cholodenko (High Art, Laurel Canyon) has ventured into some emotionally provoking territory worthy of both aforementioned labels. Recently in town for an advance screening of her film, premiering in Chicago theaters next Friday, July 9, Cholodenko spoke with Chicagoist. 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 ›

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 ›

Jay Mariotti still scares us, so we've tried our best to avoid him since he departed our local rag's pages. Which explains why we missed his latest WTF moment until the boys at NQTC pointed it out. That we knew what was coming didn't dull the mystification of reading Mariotti's words. He really does just jump right from Cubs spending money now that they've been sold to the fact that Joe Ricketts' daughter is a lesbian. 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 ›

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 ›

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 ›

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