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VIEWPOINT What are the most banned books: take a guess
The Latin word for book is liber. It is also the Latin word for "free," as in not a slave but a person who enjoys freedom (liberty). The word library means a home for books, a place of liberation, a sacred ...
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Opinion: What are the most banned books? Take a guess.
The Latin word for book is liber. It is also the Latin word for "free," as in not a slave but a person who enjoys freedom (liberty). The word library means a home for books, a place of liberation, a sacred ...
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LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH bell hooks: A voice of love, activism and intersectionality
When bell hooks died on Dec. 15, 2021, it was a gut punch. There was no time when bell hooks' extraordinary writing and feminist and lesbian theorizing was not part of the queer community. There was ...
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Former Chicago Ald. Helen Shiller hosts book launch and reception
Publishing house Haymarket Books presented a book-signing and interview session with longtime LGBTQ+ ally and former Chicago Ald. Helen Shiller on Oct. 17. Shiller was interviewed by noted Chicago Tribune ...
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BOOKS Lesbian co-author discusses 'No More Police: A Case for Abolition'
"We don't need all the answers to start down the road toward where we want to go: a world where everyone has safety, food, clean water, shelter, education, health, art, beauty, and rest."—No More Police: A ...
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Gerber/Hart Library and Archives holds 'Unboxing Queer History LIVE' fall benefit
Gerber/Hart Library and Archives (Gerber/Hart) held its fall benefit, "Unboxing Queer History LIVE!," on Oct. 15 at Gerber/Hart to raise funds in support of the library's mission to preserve LGBTQ+ history in Chicago and the Midwest. ...
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BOOKS 'Last Call Chicago' release party held at Sidetrack
On Oct. 12, co-authors Rick Karlin and St. Sukie de la Croix held a book-release party for their book, Last Call Chicago: A History of 1,001 LGBTQ-Friendly Taverns, Haunts & Hangouts. Last Call Chicago is a ...
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OutHistory reveals discovery in LGBTQ+ history: identity of pioneering LGBTQ+ author Jennie June
-- From a press release
New York, NY—Oct. 10, 2022—In celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month, the website OutHistory announced a groundbreaking discovery: the probable identity of Jennie June, the pioneering LGBTQ+ author who bravely defended ...
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LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH San Francisco Public Library digitizes LGBTQ+ archives, including Harvey Milk holdings
LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH
Shot with black-and-white film, two small children stand outside in a San Francisco public plaza draped in protest signs. One reads, "We're Proud, Not Stigmatized." The other declares, "We Love Our Gay Parents." In the right ...
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BOOKS David Sedaris returns to the Raue Center on Nov. 4
Best-selling author David Sedaris will return to the Crystal Lake venue the Raue Center on Friday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m. The openly gay humor writer is known for books such as Calypso, Theft By Finding, ...
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BOOKS Events related to 'Last Call Chicago' on Oct. 10 and 12
Last Call Chicago: A History of 1,001 LGBTQ-Friendly Taverns, Haunts & Hangouts is a historical account of LGBTQ+ venues in the Windy City. The book's authors, Rick Karlin and St. Sukie de la Croix, are journalists ...
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LGBT HISTORY MONTH 'Memory Book' details history of 1970s-era LGBTQ+ attorneys in U.S.
Stephen Lachs remembers the 1970s as being a particularly wonderful era in the history of the LGBTQ+-liberation movement. Lachs, 83, was the first out LGBTQ+ person appointed to a judgeship in the United States. Tapped by ...
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Gerber/Hart fall benefit on Oct. 15
Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, 6500 N. Clark St., will hold its fall benefit on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. "Unboxing Queer History LIVE!" will be an in-person event to celebrate and support its mission to ...
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BOOKS 2022 #BannedTogether virtual auction taking place Sept. 22-25
On Sept. 22-25, non-profit organization Pride and Less Prejudice (PLP) will hold its second annual #BannedTogether virtual auction to raise $10,000 to send 800 LGBTQ+-inclusive books to elementary schools across the United States and Canada. The ...
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Chicago International Film Festival founder talks about memoir, coming out at event
Michael Kutza—who founded the Chicago International Film Festival almost six decades ago—told stories about his long, award-winning career in the film industry Sept. 14 at Center on Halsted and signed copies of his new memoir, Starstruck. ...
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BOOKS Kemi Adeyemi on 'Feels Right: Black Queer Women and the Politics of Partying in Chicago'
Author and University of Washington Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies Assistant Professor Kemi Adeyemi is out with a new book, Feels Right: Black Queer Women and the Politics of Partying in Chicago. The book, set to ...
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John D'Emilio talks new book, 'Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood'
In acclaimed author, LGBTQ+ historian and University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) Gender and Women's Studies Professor Emeritus John D'Emilio's new memoir, Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood, he writes about coming of age in the 1950s and ...
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Newberry Library hosts 'Bughouse Square: A History in Song and Story'
Newberry Library (the Newberry) hosted an interactive, family-friendly event, "Bughouse Square: A History in Song and Story," on Aug. 27 in Washington Square Park, located directly in front of the library. The event featured actor Alma ...
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GLAAD publishes back-to-school guide
LGBTQ+ media-advocacy organization GLAAD is publishing a new back-to-school guide on how to respond to book bans and school censorship, titled "Back To School [Redacted]." The organization also announced that it has joined two national efforts ...
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StoryStudio Chicago's LGBTQ+ nonfiction writing class starting Aug. 17
StoryStudio Chicago is offering a unique writing class titled "June Is Not Enough: An LGBTQ+ Nonfiction Writing Class." The idea behind the class is to promote and foster the work of LGBTQ+ people. Writers who register ...
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Journalist Chuck Colbert passes away at 67
Journalist Charles "Chuck" R. Colbert—who had written for several LGBTQ+ publications, including Windy City Times—passed away June 30. He was 67. He was a freelance journalist based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to his biography on ...
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BOOKS Inside Sinkhole, a darkly comic coming-of-age fiction
Davida G. Breier's debut book, Sinkhole, takes readers on a trip to rural Florida in the 1980s. Amidst golf courses, mobile homes and alligators, some things on the agenda: friendship, identity, sexuality, grief and murder. Breier ...
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Utah school district removes LGBTQ+ books from libraries
A Utah school district removed 52 books from its library shelves due to parent complaints mainly concerning LGBTQ+-focused material, LGBTQ Nation noted. A spokesperson for Alpine School District tells The Salt Lake Tribune that the district ...
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Local non-binary poet wins Stories Matter Scholarship
The Stories Matter Foundation and StoryStudio Chicago have awarded the annual $1,500 Dana Wood Chaney Writers Fund tuition grant to local non-binary poet A. Ng Pavel. The scholarship is awarded each year to a writer working ...
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John Pennycuff's memorial library at Unity Park is graffitied
The John Pennycuff Little Library, at Chicago's Unity Park, was recently sprayed with graffiti. Robert Castillo, Pennycuff's surviving husband, stated on Facebook that some tried to cover the original tagging with their own rainbow-hued graffiti. ...
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How Coming Out in the 1970s Helped Me Make Brave, Life-changing Decisions
By Edith Forbes, author of Tracking A Shadow: My Lived Experiment With MS
As a child growing up in Wyoming in the 1960's, I did not know any actual person who was gay. I knew exactly one fact about gay people, a fact universally accepted but never talked about: Gay people were strange. Even ...
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Five Worth Finding: WNDR Museum, Prince, queer books, flowers
— WNDR Museum's Pride event "Crafting with Queens": The West Loop museum is usually entertainment and, um, wondrous enough on its own—but during Pride Month, WNDR is queering things up with "Crafting with Queens" on Tuesday, ...
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Northwestern University Libraries and Center for Applied Transgender Studies launch trans studies journal
Northwestern University Libraries (NUL) and the Center for Applied Transgender Studies (CATS) are now publishing the Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies. The Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies (BATS)—the first journal ...
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Catholic publisher cancels Chicago theologian's 'Queer God de Amor' book
On June 9, New Ways Ministry received the following statement by Miguel Diaz, a former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See and the John Courtney Murray, S.J., University Chair in Public Service at Loyola University Chicago. ...
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34th annual Lambda Literary award winners announced
-- From a press release
New York, NY, June 11, 2022 — Lambda Literary, the nation's premier LGBTQ literary organization, announced the winners of the 34th Annual Lambda Literary Awards (a.k.a. the "Lammys") at a live virtual award ceremony hosted by ...
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BOOKS Artist Sam Kirk talks 'The Meaning of Pride'
In the children's book The Meaning of Pride, Rosiee Thor pens an ode to LGBTQ+ culture and identity by celebrating the beauty, significance and many dimensions of the concept of Pride—and showing that the word can ...
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Gerber/Hart unveils Pride Month events with 'Drag,' 'Bad Gays,' sneak peek
Gerber/Hart Library has revealed the events it will host for Pride Month. —On Saturday, June 4, at 3 p.m., Gerber/Hart will celebrate the release of Legends of Drag: Queens of a Certain Age with Unabridged Books ...
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Actor/model David Pevsner challenges age and body stereotypes in recent book
When writing his recent book—Damn Shame: Desire, Defiance and Show Tunes—actor/model/filmmaker David Pevsner noticed three themes coming to the fore: body shame, sexuality and ageism. "All three of those are ...
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Gayla Turner talks new book uncovering her grandmother's secret queer identity
In Gayla Turner's debut book, Don't You Dare: Uncovering Lost Love (BookBaby, May 24), she reveals her Grandmother Ruby's (1896-1977) century-old secret queer identity that she hid from the wider world. This revelation became c ...
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HIV/AIDS activist Rae Lewis-Thornton on her new memoir, 'Unprotected'
Emmy-winning HIV/AIDS activist, author, minister, political organizer, motivational speaker, life coach, jewelry designer and social media figure Rae Clara Lewis-Thornton's recently released book, Unprotected: A Memoir, is already a pre-release ...
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BOOKS 'Tinderbox' author to appear in Palatine on June 14
Author Robert Fieseler will discuss his debut book—Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation—on Tuesday, June 14, at 7 p.m. at Palatine's Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center, ...
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Book-signing for HIV/AIDS activist's 'Unprotected: A Memoir' on May 21
-- From a press release
"I had been torn apart by the doings of others and blamed myself for surviving to the best of my ability. It would literally take decades for me to understand that I was the product of what happened to me." Emmy ...
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Gerber/Hart announces change in leadership
Wil Brant is no longer executive director of Gerber/Hart Library and Archives. According to an open letter from board co-chairs James Conley and Kevin Nunley as well as Board Treasurer Becky Chmielewski, Brant "served in this ...
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'It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful' explores art collective's part in HIV/AIDS activism
In Jack Lowery's book, It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic, the historian shares how the art collective Gran Fury utilized community-made propaganda to address the HIV/AIDS ...
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Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project showcases 'History of Milwaukee Drag' starting June 27
-- From a press release
Milwaukee, WI. - A History of Milwaukee Drag: Seven Generations of Glamour, by local historians Michail Takach and BJ Daniels, will be released Monday, June 27 by The History Press. For nearly 150 years, Milwaukee has ...
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Gay Latino techie Michael Sayman talks about his inspiring book, 'App Kid'
Michael Sayman is a key figure in Silicon Valley, having worked at Instagram, Google and, now, Twitter. However, he stands out in many ways. The twentysomething Sayman—an openly gay Latino—was only in his teens when he ...
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Indie Bookstore Crawl on Independent Bookstore Day April 30
-- From a press release
Chicago, April 12, 2022 — It's back! Yet again, Chicagoland proves itself to be the dream destination for book lovers and readers of all ages! Nearly 40 independent bookstores in the greater Chicago area—from Lake Forest ...
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'Trans Bodies, Trans Selves' second edition out April 15
-- From a press release
NEW YORK CITY, New York, MApril 11, 2022—The Trans Bodies, Trans Selves board is proud to announce the release of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves' second edition, published April 15, 2022. The Trans Bodies Trans Selvessecond edition ...
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Mary Lynn Rajskub: Actress/comedian discusses acting, sexuality in new book
Emmy-winning actresses and stand-up comedians who just finished publishing their new memoirs, while simultaneously embarking on their stand-up tours, rarely have moments to themselves. Thankfully, Mary Lynn Rajskub, best known for her work on the TV ...
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Gerber/Hart Library and Archives holds 40th-anniversary event at Sidetrack
Gerber/Hart Library and Archives (Gerber/Hart) celebrated its 40th anniversary with a "40 & Fabulous! The Gerber/Hart Spring Soiree" benefit April 7—the birthday of one of the library's namesakes, Pearl Hart—at ...
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FILM/TV Molly Shannon talks about her gay father, LGBTQ projects and new book
Chicago Humanities Festival is hosting a very special night at Harris Theater with entertainers Molly Shannon and Jonathan Van Ness in two separate appearances. While Van Ness has a Queer Eye, Shannon has played queer and ...
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Leader in fight to repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' to join virtual book club with LGBTQ veterans April 7
C. Dixon Osburn, co-founder and former CEO of the Servicmembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), will join the Chicago chapter of the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) April 7 at 7 p.m. for a virtual Book ...
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Out 'K-Pop Confidential' author discusses latest 'Revolution'-ary work
Stephan Lee, author of K-Pop Confidential, rocks on with his newest book, K-Pop Revolution, which came out April 5. Originally from Atlanta and a current Los Angeles resident, Lee lived in New York City for years ...
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Announcing Trans Bodies, Trans Selves Second Edition, Release Date: April 15, 2022
-- From a press release
NEW YORK CITY, New York, March 31, 2022—The Trans Bodies, Trans Selves board is proud to announce the release of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves' second edition, published April 15, 2022. The Trans Bodies Trans Selvessecond edition ...
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Out gay NU dean to receive Frederick Douglass Medal
University of Rochester President Sarah Mangelsdorf will present the Frederick Douglass Medal during a ceremony on Thursday, March 31, to E. Patrick Johnson, dean of the School of Communication at Northwestern University and the Annenberg University ...
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Trans activist, actress, educator Alexandra Billings talks new memoir, state of the world
About three-fourths of the way through activist, actress and educator Alexandra Billings' This Time For Me: A Memoir (out via TOPPLE on April 1), written with Joanne Gordon, readers encounter these words: "I met Larry Kramer ...
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BOOKS Chicago-based queer writer Julian Randall branches out with 'Pilar Ramirez'
Julian Randall—a Black queer Dominican American writer who lives in Chicago—has, up to this point, been known for his award-winning poems that cover a wide range of themes. However, he now has released a novel, Pilar ...
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BOOKS Janelle Monae in Chicago April 22 to discuss 'The Memory Librarian'
Singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon and author Janelle Monae will visit Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St., as part of the tour for her new book, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories ...
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Marvel Comics celebrates Pride month with 'Marvel's Voices: Pride #1'
-- From a press release
New York, NY March 15, 2022 This June, Marvel Comics is celebrating the LGBTQI+ community with a new giant-sized one-shot! Honoring Pride month,'Marvel'S Voices: Pride returns for its second annual grand showcase of LGBTQI+ charac ...
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Lambda Literary names Lambda Literary Awards finalists
-- From a press release
New York, NY Lambda Literary, the nation's premier LGBTQ literary organization, today announces the finalists of the 34th Annual Lambda Literary Awards (a.k.a. the "Lammys"). Created over thirty years ago to recognize the crucial role ...
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Fantasy series tells stories through POC perspectives
Gay author Jason Michael Primrose's first book was 24 pages—an impressive feat for a 9-year-old. Inspired by Bruce Coville's Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, the handwritten "novel," called Dragon Wars, combined some of his favorite things: a ...
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'All Moms' released by GLAAD's Sarah Kate Ellis and wife, Antigone Rising's Kristen Ellis-Henderson
-- From a press release
Tuesday, March 1, 2022 - GLAAD announced that the new LGBTQ-children's book All Moms, written by GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis and her wife founding member, guitarist and songwriter for the all-female popular rock ...
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Chicago historian 'invites the audience to the party' that is queer history
The book Voices in Isolation: 4 Queer Plays at a Social Distance is a collection of stories about the LGBTQ+ community designed to preserve "fading memories" of queer history and experiences by "inviting the audience to ...
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CAKE Chicago postponed until 2023
The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo, or CAKE, has been postponed until next year because of the COVID pandemic. The pandemic caused the cancellations of the 2020 and 2021 in-person expos, and organizers had tentatively chosen June ...
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New journal will spotlight queer and trans religious studies scholarship
-- From a press release
UC Riverside will be the host of an unprecedented conference to launch the first academic journal devoted to queer and transgender scholarship in religious studies. The journal, "QTR: A Journal of Queer and Transgender Studies in ...
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Author/feminist bell hooks dies at 69
Acclaimed author and activist bell hooks died Dec. 15 at age 69. The writer (real name: Gloria Jean Watkins) was born in 1952 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, per NBC News. Her first published work, a book of ...
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Leading groups join call for LGBTQ-inclusive books, books on race, racism
--From a GLAAD press release
GLAAD joins over 600 groups and individuals in a powerful statement of support against efforts to ban LGBTQ-inclusive books and books about race and racism. The statement, created by the National Coalition Against Censorship, is the ...
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Author Anne Rice dies at 80
Writer Anne Rice, whose Interview With The Vampire sold more than 150 million copies, died at age 80 on Dec. 11, according to media reports. Her son Christopher Rice, an out gay man who is also ...
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U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids reaches marginalized communities with children's book
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids' children's book, Sharice's Big Voice, tells the story of how an Indigenous lesbian mixed martial artist and lawyer became the first LGBTQ+ representative of Kansas. "My hope is that when children or ...
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Five Worth Finding: World AIDS Day, 'Benedetta,' books, wine in a can
—World AIDS Day event at Belmont Harbor: —The Chicago Parks Foundation will hold a World AIDS Day event on Dec. 1, 9-10:30 a.m., at the Belmont Harbor Yacht Club. Antonio King, LGBTQ health and outreach liaison ...
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Missouri district returning LGBTQ+ books to high school libraries
In Missouri, the North Kansas City School district said it would return two books exploring LGBTQ+ themes to its high school libraries following public outcry, The Hill noted. The district announced its plans to reshelve All ...
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Downers Grove parents complain about LGBTQ books
Continuing a battle that's been taking place in several other states, parents in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove say they want publications they call "pornography" removed from the high schools' libraries, according to WGN-TV. At ...
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ATTRACTIONS 'The Dr. Seuss Experience' at Water Tower Place
It's certainly a time and place to be immersed in nostalgia. The family-friendly attraction "The Dr. Seuss Experience" is running through Jan. 2, 2022, at Water Tower Place, 835 N. Michigan Ave. It's certainly hard to ...
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Lambda Literary executive director stepping down
Lambda Literary Executive Director Sue Landers announced that she is stepping down. In an open letter, Landers stated, "On December 1, I will step down as executive director. Maxwell Scales and Cleopatra Acquaye-Reynolds will join the ...
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Actor Kal Penn discusses coming out, acting journey, systemic racism during tour
Following the publishing of actor Kal Penn's memoir You Can't Be Serious, he stopped in Chicago on Nov. 6 to discuss his Hollywood and White House careers—and the news of his coming out. Co-founder of Vice ...
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BOOKS Twelfth (and final) 'Boystown' cover revealed
Boystown author Jake Biondi has revealed the cover of the twelfth book of his series—while simultaneously sharing that the next installment will be the final one. Boystown: Season Twelve: The Final Season will be released in ...
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BOOK REVIEW Activist Peter Staley's Memoir 'Never Silent' is a real-life thriller
--From marksking.com
"Attention must be paid to such a man." Arthur Miller Peter Staley's much-anticipated new memoir, Never Silent, opens with almost unbearable nail-biting suspense, sweeping us into the behind-the-scenes machinations of an ACT UP takeover of ...
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Achy Obejas' bilingual poetry book Boomerang/Bumeran explores immigration, liberation
Achy Obejas is a Cuban-American writer, translator and activist. Boomerang/Bumerán, her newest book, confronts questions of immigration, love and liberation. Like a boomerang, these ideas return throughout the collection, even ...
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NATIONAL Victory Institute, LGBTQ books, youth items, NASA, LGBTQ Nation
LGBTQ Victory Institute and nine additional candidate-training organizations announced a partnership with Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, to provide a native-to-mobile tool to encourage young people to run for office, a press release noted. ...
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Lambda Literary to expand LGBTQ Writers in Schools Program in New York City schools
--From a press release
New York, NY Today, Lambda Literary announced that New York City has quadrupled its investment in the organization's LGBTQ Writers in Schools program, increasing funding from $100,000 to $400,000 to reach 10,000 students and provide ...
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