THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Gerber/Hart's Rogers Park neighborhood location is home to numerous historical artifacts from the city and region's LGBTQ community, as well as a vast queer- and trans-focused lending library that is open to all.

Event emcee and Telemundo Chicago news anchor Alfonso Gutiérrez welcomed the packed house, addressing the importance of preserving LGBTQ+ history and how vital Gerber/Hart is for the community. He noted that Telemundo Chicago has been committed to telling LGBTQ+ stories, including a feature on Gerber/Hart two years ago, in Spanish.

Gerber/Hart Board Co-Chairs James Conley and Kevin Nunley thanked the volunteers and sponsors.

Conley noted that, for the first time, all three of the Gerber/Hart staffers are full-time employees. He spoke about the importance of being strong and persevering when libraries and librarians have been targeted by anti-LGBTQ+ forces across the country, eliciting boos from audience.

Nunley added that Gerber/Hart is currently working on a new community room with "removable pieces" to take to a larger space down the road. He also said that living in Illinois is a privilege for many, because the state is at the "top of the list" when it comes to pro-LGBTQ+ laws.

DePaul University's Barrie Jean Borich (an English department professor who is also director of LGBTQ Studies there) and Heather Montes Ireland (an assistant professor in women's and gender studies) spoke about a course they are teaching in collaboration with Gerber/Hart called Do Say Gay: Banned Books and LGBTQ+ Freedom.

Borich said she knows what it is like to be banned, while Montes Ireland pointed out that one of their students, Nadia Carolina Hernandez, was present that evening. Hernandez said she has learned a lot in the Do Say Gay class, calling Gerber/Hart a "magical" space.

Gerber/Hart Community Outreach and Strategic Partnerships Manager and Unboxing Queer History Podcast Co-Creator Jen Dentel spoke about the collaboration the library and archives is doing with the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project.

Dentel said when she started at Gerber/Hart in her 20s, the connections she made with queer elders at that time were "really important to me." She loves having dialogue project members come to Gerber/Hart to get ideas for their artwork pieces, she said.

Two of this year's LGBTQ+ Intergeneration Dialogue Project participants were also in attendance, Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame inductee and Chicago LGBTQ+ Advisory Council member Robert Castillo and 21 year old School of the Art Institute of Chicago rising senior Emma Verano.

Castillo spoke about his first visit to Gerber/Hart in the late '80s and what it meant to him to have a space where LGBTQ+ people were recognized and celebrated at a time when the community was mostly closeted. Verano spoke about how the archives has inspired their dialogue project artwork piece.

Gerber/Hart Development Manager Michael Rashid introduced the Courage in Community short film by award-winning director/writer C. J. Arellano, who attended that night as well. The film highlighted the work Gerber/Hart has done over the years to provide the public with information about the LGBTQ+ community.

Chicago's divine drag diva sensation Coco Sho-Nell wowed the crowd with her three performances over the course of the evening.

Studio Folklore's Karen King and Conley (in his capacity at Studio Folklore) shared décor details with placards featuring the designs they chose for all aspects of the new community room at Gerber/Hart, noting that Studio Folklore did all this work for free.

Gerber/Hart Operations Director and Unboxing Queer History Podcast Co-Creator Erin Bell and Rashid called on the audience to make an additional donation to help fund the library and archives work. Rashid and Coco closed out the night with the raffle winners announcements.

See gerberhart.org/ .