Pride walk/runs in Des Moines, Moline, Niles, Tuscola fill LGBTQ communities’ need for family-friendly, healthy activities
It’s time to start walking, running, and rolling for Pride, with at least five Pride-themed 5Ks coming up in the next six weeks across Illinois and Iowa.
They all start tomorrow with the Southern Illinois Pride K Fun Walk and Run. You can join in person or virtually.
More Pride walk and run events are also coming in Niles outside of Chicago June 3; Tuscola, Ill., and Des Moines, Ia., June 10; and Moline in the Quad Cities June 25.
Read about why these events are extra important to the LGBTQ community — and especially this year.
Rainbow Cafe’s Art Auction // COVID Burdens Prisons // Downstate Office For LGBT Chamber // Body Cam Grants // Pride Night In Bloomington-Normal
Illinois' LGBTQ Chamber opens "downstate" office SPRINGFIELD – Aiming to expand "advocacy, services, professional development, and products throughout the state and northwest Indiana," the LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Illinois is adding a "downstate" Springfield office...
Southern Illinois LGBTQ center calendar counters toxic masculinity, ageism, other stigmas
CARBONDALE -- At first glance, "Farms & Faces of Southern Illinois" seems just another calendar fundraising tool for another nonprofit. Look more closely, and this compilation of rustic pics is actually a grand statement against toxic masculinity and the rigid,...
Auction showcases Southern Illinois artists for LGBTQ center
More than 20 Southern Illinois artists are showcased in Rainbow Cafe LGBTQ Community Center’s “Frame in Love” art auction.
Iowa City Pride, Chicago Pride Fest, Metro East Pride kick off new Pride wave under COVID’s shadow
Iowa City Pride, Chicago Pride Fest and Metro East Pride are happening this weekend. Decorah Pride is coming Oct. 8-9, then Pride Orange City Oct. 15-17. The Fox Valley area holds a Pride Halloween party Oct. 23. And southeastern Illinois joins its neighbors for the 19th Annual Pride Prom Oct. 30.
BLM rally in Herrin // Three upcoming Pride festivals // Chicago Pride Parade cancelled // Community Briefs Illinois
A BLM peaceful protest in Herrin. LGBTQ Pride in the Quad Cities, Champaign-Urbana and Belleville. Carbondale’s SIU honored. Community Briefs Illinois!
New “Long Live Community!” showcases events, performers, audiences and organizers
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....
Metro East Pride glows in Belleville
WHAT: Metro East Pride Street Party & Drag Show WHERE: Belleville, IL WHO: Community members and performers, plus Club Escapade WHEN: June 5, 2021 PHOTOS BY: Randy Elser Roxie M. Valentine wows the crowd. A packed crowd did the electric slide together during...
Juneteenth highlights from Hanover Park to Carbondale // Bisexual Pride offerings // Expanded health care in Central Illinois (Community Briefs-Illinois, June 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...
A weekend bursting with Pride in 11 Illinois cities (Community Briefs-Illinois, June 4)
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...
Pride Season in Illinois: the definitive list of 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...
Killman holds candidate event, Rainbow Cafe calls out Tennessee anti-LGBTQ bills, and more
A bathroom bill that doesn’t even require multi-gender bathrooms triggers an Illinois state representative to cancel a planned appearance in Edwardsville.
Meanwhile, a Carbondale nonprofit is putting out a call of support for LGBTQ activist groups in Tennessee, where two anti-LGBTQ bills have advanced and are on the verge of becoming law.
You can also learn about some pivotal Carbondale City Council happenings: a “Meet the Candidate” event by Clare Killman, and a gun violence study before the City Council Tuesday.
it’s all part of the TRM Southern Illinois Weekly Update.
Kamrah brings boundary-breaking belly-dancing to Carbondale’s Rainbow Variety Show
Kamrah is a trans-masculine belly-dancer from Chicago who defies stereotypes and will headline the Rainbow Variety Show in Carbondale tonight.
As someone who also studies microbiology and anatomy, and identifies as autistic and a “geek,” Kamrah also brings a new level to the term “intersectional.”
Read about Kamrah and other local performers who will take the Rainbow Variety Show stage tonight in Carbondale. The featured performers include author Rafael Frumkin, dancers Kimea Rhines and Darryl clark, vocalist and sound healer Pat York, and acoustic performers Shane Bruce, Jacqui, Elana Floyd-Kennett, Shane Bruce, and Curt Wilson.
The show raises money for the Rainbow Cafe LGBTQ Center and its work of LGBTQ support and social opportunities, HIV and AIDS testing, harm reduction, and more.
Learn about 19th-century transgender war hero in Russia, “second-wave Klan” roots in southern Illinois
Acclaimed sci-fi author Cheryl Morgan, the first-ever openly transgender winner of the Hugo Award for literary achievement, will lead an online talk Feb. 21 about Aleksandr Aleksandrov, a Ukrainian-born Russian war hero in the 19th century who lived as a man after being born a woman.
Historian Darrel Dexter will share his research Saturday into the “second-wave Klan” history of southern Illinois. Dexter’s talk at the Carbondale Public Library, also available online, will outline the rise and fall of the Klan during its second life in the early 1900s.
These two online events are part of TRM’s new weekly Online Event of the Week, highlighting virtual events that help present a more complete picture of society that includes marginalized identities.
Rainbow Cafe renovation aims for March opening of new Carbondale headquarters
Rainbow Cafe aims to have its new headquarters in downtown Carbondale open for business by the end of March.
The new 3,000-square-foot space across the street from Carbondale’s Town Square will host Rainbow Cafe’s programming, AIDS and HIV testing, case management, office space, and a stage and open area for special events. Read about the renovation effort by and for Rainbow Cafe, which serves 20 southern Illinois counties with not only LGBTQ+ support services, but also harm reduction and other quality of life initiatives.
Illinois fills void of abortion care left by surrounding states’ bans, restrictions
Now that abortion is no longer a constitutional right in America, the state of Illinois and its commitment to supporting “a woman’s right to choose” is pivotal to many other states’ responses to the historic overturn of Roe V. Wade two months ago. It’s happening in...