Category: News

New “Long Live Community!” showcases events, performers, audiences and organizers

Christine Hawes
long live community cover

What’s a great way to honor and inspire community? Showing other communities in action! Long Live Community! is The Real Mainstream‘s new section devoted to pics and videos of intersectional, LGBTQ-affirming and progressive community events across Iowa and Illinois. Our first photo packages are from Davenport, Iowa City and Sioux City in Iowa, and Belleville, Buffalo Grove and Moline in Illinois. Take a peek at the event of your pick: In this new feature, you can submit pics and video of events you attended. You can submit pics and video…

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Juneteenth in Davenport (NEW: Long Live Community!)

Christine Hawes
juneteenth davenport 1

WHAT: Juneteenth Celebration WHERE: Davenport, IA WHO: Black-owned businesses and community groups celebrating the formal abolition of slavery in 1865. Coordinated by the Friends of MLK Davenport. WHEN: June 19, 2021 PHOTOS BY: The Real Mainstream Team

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Pride at Bass Street Landing: Long Live Community

Christine Hawes
pride quad cities

WHAT: PRIDE AT BASS STREET LANDING WHERE: The Plaza at Bass Street Landing, Moline, Ill. WHEN: June 4-5, 2021 WHO: Hundreds of Quad Citians attended the event, a collaboration of The Project of the Quad Cities, Free Mom Hugs, and Clock Inc. LGBTQ Community Center PHOTOS BY: The Real Mainstream Team and Rich D. Hendricks WHAT: PRIDE NIGHT AT MODERN WOODMAN PARK WHERE: Modern Woodman Park, Davenport, IA WHEN: June 17, 2021 WHO: A night at the ballpark, coordinated by The Project of the Quad Cities and the River Bandits…

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Juneteenth highlights from Hanover Park to Carbondale // Bisexual Pride offerings // Expanded health care in Central Illinois (Community Briefs-Illinois, June 17)

Christine Hawes
community briefs illinois 6 17

ILLINOIS — Juneteenth events are the top priority throughout Illinois this weekend, especially now that the federal goverment and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker have declared June 19 official paid holiday, and the federal government also fast-tracked its -tracking a federal holiday designation, too, for the formal abolition of slavery. Carbondale, the Quad Cities and Springfield are among the communities with large Juneteenth recognitions this year, starting Friday and continuing through Sunday. In addition, the Black and Proud IV online comedy extravaganza Sunday showcases Black, queer performers from across the country…

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Juneteenth, Iowa City’s mini-Pride, more Pride in the Quad Cities, and Dubuque gets rolling (Community Briefs-Iowa, June 15)

Christine Hawes
community briefs iowa 6 15

(updated 11:30 pm June 16) IOWA — Juneteenth-themed events — some of which are intersectional and overlap with LGBTQ Pride celebrations — are happening from Sioux City to Mason City to Iowa City this year. Communities holding larger-than-ever Juneteenth events to celebrate the formal abolition of slavery in 1865 include Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Dubuque and Iowa City. Meanwhile, this week is Iowa City’s mini-Pride (the main festival was rescheduled to October), with a week of activities centered around Studio 13. The mini-Pride starts tonight with a bar crawl that…

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Existential condemnation of LGBTQ people continues five years after Pulse (TRM Blog)

Christine Hawes
pulse pic

“Even life, it’s like funeral practice,” wrote the beloved nonbinary poet Andrea Gibson in their piece, “Orlando.” “Half of us already dead to our families before we die, half of us on our knees trying to crawl into the family photo.” These brutal words are the most pivotal part of Gibson’s amazing tribute to Pulse Nightclub victims.  Yet, they seem to be the least-quoted, I find in the five years since Pulse. When it comes to Pulse, we’re all aware of the location (Orlando, Fl.), number of victims (49 killed,…

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A game that’s serious about LGBTQ+ community, relationships: Mass Effect (Review)

Aime Wichtendahl
mass effect final option 3 1

I often tell people I was born with an Atari 2600 controller in my hand. One of my earliest memories was my parents showing off the Atari at my grandparents’ house to my aunts and uncles. Games of Berzerk, Missile Command, and Space Invaders lasted long into the night. My sister was nearly born at home, because dad just needed to get one more game of Space Invaders in. Gaming, while I was growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, was a very male space. Hardly any games featured women…

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A weekend bursting with Pride in 11 Illinois cities (Community Briefs-Illinois, June 4)

Christine Hawes
comm briefs illinois 6 4 1

ILLINOIS — Pride Month takes off in earnest throughout Illinois this weekend, with at least 12 events taking place in 11 communities over the next three days. The Quad Cities, where Pride at Bass Street Landing takes place today and Saturday, are especially colorful this Pride Month, thanks to a growing collaboration of two cities there with the area’s LGBTQ community center, Clock Inc. After three years working with Rock Island for annual Pride Month flags downtown, Clock Inc began working with Moline this year, too. “We cannot express enough…

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Pride in Iowa expands to 70-plus events; artists are honored (Community Briefs-Iowa, June 4)

Christine Hawes
comm briefs 6 4 1

IOWA — With communities like Monticello and Humboldt joining the Pride momentum, and events of all kinds proliferating to more than 70 now, Pride Month in Iowa continues to expand. Big events coming up in the next three days include a Comedy Night and Scavenger Hunt by Capital City Pride in Des Moines; Pride at Bass Street Landing in the Quad Cities, with drag performances, live music and education workshops Friday and Saturday; and a burst of events in Sioux City. Go to the Pride in Iowa link to see…

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Pride Season in Illinois: the definitive list of events

Christine Hawes
illinois pride events

ILLINOIS — Pride season festivals are returning in diverse form throughout Illinois this summer, with at least 51 online or in-person events hosted by an Illinois entity and another nine highlight online events from across the nation. Among the big developments this year: The Project of the Quad Cities has stepped forth to lead six Pride or LGBTQ-related events throughout June in Davenport and Moline. New fests are popping up in communities like Galena and Mt. Carmel, several Chicago-area events are back this year as the pandemic winds down, and…

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