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 ›

A party for transgender people, cross-dressers, transvestites, and the guys and dolls who want to mix it up with ‘em—Trannypalooza isn’t really about female impersonators lip-synching the hits; if that’s what you’re looking for, swan on over to here and here. According to Mercedes Tyler, the hostess of the monthly event at Spin, Trannypalooza is more of an opportunity for transgender individuals “to meet people who want to know them better for friendship or dating.” 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 ›

Transsexual author and artist Kate Bornstein is a name synonymous with social change in the most progressive sense, with living outside of the rigorously defined and policed notion of a gender binary and with challenging societal norms a-plenty. For this reason, Bornstein's upcoming Chicagoland appearance is worth a spot on your calendar. more ›

Obama again enraged the religious right with his recent appointment of Amanda Simpson, a transgender Chicago native who now calls Tucson home, to a position as the Department of Commerce's senior technical adviser within the Bureau of Industry and Security. Simpson, 49, is reportedly the first known transgender presidential appointee. more ›

The gruesome murder of 19-year-old gay man Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado in Puerto Rico last week has shone new light on the potentially life-threatening dangers facing those who do not easily slide into our society's conventions of gender. He, and 161 others murdered due to anti-transgender violence and prejudice, are memorialized worldwide today as part of Transgender Day of Remembrance. 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 ›

• Police continue to investigate the death of a three-month old baby who was found in a crowded, dirty apartment on the Northwest Side.
• Yesterday was a dark day for businesses nationwide with tens of thousands of jobs cut. Among them, 20,000 by Illinois-based Caterpillar.
• The ACLU has filed suit against the Illinois Department of Vital Records for refusing to issue new birth certificates to transgenders who have their sex change operation performed overseas.

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 ›