By Lauren B. Beach, JD/PhD @laurenbbeach
The term “ Pride” is synonymous with the history of protest and celebration for the liberation of LGBTQIA+ people and communities. Little known, however, is that the origins of Pride have bisexual roots . In 1969, Black and Brown transgender women, including Marsha...
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By Danie Muriello
Everyone in the LGBTQ+ community has a coming-out story. I am a 69 -year-old transwoman, and I’d like to share just the beginning of mine.
A little more than six years ago on a very ordinary Sunday afternoon, I was leisurely reading the paper, something I did almost every Sunday. One of the sections I really liked ...
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By Ella Shapiro
For over a century , drag has been an essential performance art within the LGBTQ+ community. While the roots of drag can be traced back to theatre performance in the late 1800s, the 1900s saw drag transform into a unifying space for the LGBTQ+ community in the face of oppression and criminalization. Drag shows have served as places to come together, be entertained, challenge...
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By Ella Shapiro
Marc Querol, a TEAM TO END AIDS (T2 ) athlete and a n e mergency room (ER) trauma nurse from Chicago , is one of many health care professionals who have dedicated themselves to caring for other s during the COVID-19 pandemic. Marc and other nurses working in hospitals...
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U pdated May 26 , 2021
All people ages 12 and older are now eligible to get a COVID vaccine. There are many ways to get vaccinated in Chicago and Cook County – here are some of the main ones:
1. Your primary care provider: Call and see if they are offering vaccines. If you don’t...
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By Ella Shapiro
When you talk to Judy Brown, it is immediately clear that the 69-year-old Chicagoan is passionate about advocating for the people around her. Every day, Judy commits herself to helping others and has been doing so since she and her husband tested positive for HIV in 1993. Judy is an active member of AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC)’s Ryan White community advisory...
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Meet Roy Ferguson: AFC board member
By Ella Shapiro
One of Roy Ferguson's greatest pleasures in life is spending time with his granddaughters. Every morning the 70-year-old Chicagoan and his partner, Michael, each take one of their youngest granddaughter’s hands and walk her to school. The pair’s eldest granddaughter just got onto her high school’s...
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By Bailey Williams
When racist ideas resound, denials that those ideas are racist typically follow...Denial is the heartbeat of racism, beating across ideologies, races and nations. -Ibram X. Kendi in How to Be An Antiracist
On Feb. 14, 2020, the New York Times profiled Black painter Jordan Casteel in recognition of her first solo museum show. When the article was completed,...
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The jury in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin has returned guilty verdicts for the Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd in May 2020. Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
George Floyd’s death reignited a nationwide movement to reform policing and law enforcement practices, systems that were developed to...
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By Coleman Goode
The dictionary definition of community is “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.” I like to think of community as a social group with commonalities such as norms, religion, values, customs or identity — basically, you all want the same thing for yourselves. The term “community mobilization”...
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