River City Pride rolls along the Peoria Riverfront
This was the third year on the Riverfront for the event.
By Caleb Sneeden
PEORIA- Thousands of attendees celebrated at River City Pride (RCP) on July 20.
This is River City Pride’s third year at the riverfront. Previously it took place at the Glen Oak Park. The 10 a.m. to-10 p.m. event featured live music on two entertainment stages, a Kids’ Zone with inflatables and arts and crafts, well over 100 vendors and organizations, and 4 drag shows in the evening.
Rob Reneau, a Peoria County board member, values the visibility provided by pride events like RCP.
“We contribute just as much as anyone else and we care about our community just as much as anyone else,” he said.
2024 Volume 2, Issue 4 https://illinoiseagle.com
In this issue…
Statewide news Page 2
Regional news Page 3
Feature Page
Resources Page 8
The Illinois Eagle is an independent newspaper covering the LGBTQ community and social justice across the state. News is published daily on our website. To send in news tips or ask about advertising, email illinoiseagle217@gmail.com.
Reneau also spoke about the development of pride in Peoria, saying “In my early years, we attempted something similar to this. I’m super proud of Peoria Proud for getting it to this point… back in the day, it was just bars that were the place for people to congregate.”
As a board member, he has also proposed the pride variant of the Peoria County flag.
Uncle Aunt and Drake attended RCP having just moved from Chicago and commented positively on the age ranges present. Uncle Aunt said, “It’s really sweet to see this amount of elder queers and supportive families[1] . ”
According to SAGE, visibility at pride for older LGBTQ+ people can be a valuable tool for ensuring that issues specific to them don’t go by the wayside, as they often do,
either in our community or wider society.
Noah Palm, a member of the local CPUSA club, cited community ties as the most important role of pride. “We’re all together collectively to support one cause, and that is LGBT people,” he said.
Jessica Stephenson, owner of local bookstore Lit. on Fire, echoed the importance of community for queer people. She said, “Right now, because it’s a very dangerous time for all of us to get through all of the incoming legislation that’s beating us down, we absolutely need each other more than ever.”
Hillary Wasson, a local therapist running That Therapy Place, kept a basket where attendees could take and leave positive notes for one another. On mental health and pride, she said “I can speak first hand as a therapist with two trauma specializations that there are people with intense trauma in this community that absolutely look forward to events like this, because they know it’s a place they can go and feel seen.”
According to Pew Research, under half of voters under 25 are registered to vote, and only 36% of voters in the 2022 elections were under 50.
Piper Petrocelli spent the event registering voters and spoke to the importance of this. She said, “In the 18-24 age group, 20% of them don’t drive, so nobody is going to the Secretary of State, nobody is asking them ‘Do you want to register to vote?’”
Petrocelli noted that this impacts marginalized people more as younger demographics are more diverse.
Decevia Mann performs during the River City Pride Fes val on Saturday, July 20. Photo by Tom Wray
Saturday, July 20. Photo by Tom Wray
GoFundMe launched for the Massey family
Money
raised will go towards mental health counseling, travel and support.
By Tom Wray
SPRINGFIELD – Sonya Massey’s family has started a GoFundMe to support the family as the case works through the system.
Money raised through the effort will go to mental health counseling and support, travel costs, and household support of the family for missed work. The GoFundMe was started by Massey’s father James Wilburn and uncle Raymond Massey.
Anyone wishing to send cards, letters of encouragement or contributions in the form of a check may do so by mail at:
Elks Grand Lodge
Attn: James Wilburn
P.O. Box 159 Winton, North Carolina, 27986
All checks must be made out to: James Wilburn
All funds collected on this website will be withdrawn to “The Sonya Massey Memorial Fund,” a bank account established by Wilburn.
Massey was killed early in the morning of Saturday, July 6. She had called police because of an intruder in her home. Since the address was in unincorporated Sangamon County, sheriff’s deputies responded. During the incident, Massey was shot and pronounced dead at the hospital.
The Illinois State Police (ISP) completed its in-
vestigation last week with the family watching the body cam on Wednesday. Sean Grayson, the Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy that is alleged to have shot Massey, was arrested that same day. A
grand jury had indicted him on three counts of first-degree murder along with aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct. He was not given pretrial release.
Normal Town Council votes to expand human relations code
The updated ordinance will include gender identity.
By Caleb Sneeden
NORMAL- At July 1 meeting, the Normal Town Council voted 6-0 to amend the Town of Normal Human Relations Code to include gender identity as a protected class.
The Prairie Pride Coalition (PPC), Equality Illinois, and the Normal Human Relations Commission coordinated to propose the ordinance. In addition to modifying the code wherever necessary to protect gender identity, the ordinance also adds language to protect traits associated with race, such as “… hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists.”
In recent years, there have been a number of prominent cases around discrimination against hairstyles
associated with Black Americans.
During Public Comment, Dave Bentlin, the president of PPC spoke in favor of the ordinance, as did Karla Bailey-Smith of the ACLU of Central Illinois and Meighan Hopper of PFLAG. Mike Ziri of Equality Illinois also issued a statement. Bentlin highlighted the human impact of this ordinance in his comment.
“This is a timely action, as equality for members of the transgender and nonbinary communities has been threatened by the introduction of hundreds of bills around the country that would strip a variety of protections from transgender and nonbinary people,” he said. Karla Bailey-Smith also mentioned legal attacks on queer people in her statement. “Over 100 bills attacking transgender people have been introduced into state legislatures since 2020. Passing the proposed updated language to the Human Rights Ordinance will signal that the Town of Normal welcomes and supports them.”
According to the ACLU, there are currently six anti-
LGBTQ+ laws circulating in the Illinois legislature alone.
Meighan Hopper spoke in favor of this ordinance from the perspective of a parent of queer children. “As a parent of transgender children myself, this is an important update that can make our community even stronger than it already is… not only for the current, but also future members that might be considering coming to our community.”
Elizabeth Fox Anvick, a board member of PPC, gave brief comments about the success. “It’s always exciting to see our language change after 23 years. The reason I’ll never leave Illinois or Bloomington/ Normal is because I hate winter, but I love my Human Rights.”
The Normal Human Relations Commission was formed in 1969 to guard against discrimination and protect civil rights. In 2001, the Human Relations Code was modified to include sexual orientation as a protected class, which current Mayor Chris Koos voted in favor of as a town councillor.
Sonya Massey
Out council member runs for Bloomington mayor
Cody Hendricks would be the city’s first out LGBTQ mayor.
By Caleb Sneeden
BLOOMINGTON – Ward 6 City Council Member Cody Hendricks announced on Tuesday, July 16, that he is running for Mayor of Bloomington.
Hendricks would be the first out gay mayor of the city, and only the second out LGBTQ+ person to run for the position in recent history after Jackie Gunderson in 2021. He was a Peoria City Councilor from 2011- 2015. Currently, in addition to his service on the City Council Hendricks teaches social studies at Olympia High School in Stanford.
Hendricks centers much of his campaign not on himself, but community, saying that “…you run because the community wants you to, not because you think you have all these wonderful ideas.”
“To me, it’s important that we have a mayor who is going to be inclusive of our entire community politics aside, and also when it comes to minority groups and lgbt groups,” he said.
Similarly, he views his LGBTQ+ identity in social terms. He stated, “I have always found Bloomington to be a loving and inclusive community.” However, he acknowledged a more discriminatory past with great social progress in recent years. “My husband works at the history museum there are interviews from prior mayors who, when protections came before the council, were entirely opposed.”
Hendricks praised the activists and residents who contributed to making Bloomington a more inclusive and welcoming place. “We’ve really made a change in Bloomington, and a lot of that is just the loving nature that is the community Jan Lancaster has really also helped with that with her steadfast commitment to the community through his years.” He also positively mentioned the exponential growth of the local Pridefest.
Hendricks has stated that although he wants the support of the local LGBT community, he will not take that support for granted. “Just because I’m gay
Cody Hendricks
does not mean they’re going to necessarily vote for me, just like any qualifying factor wouldn’t necessarily mean that another group would vote for them. I’m going to have to work as hard for their support as anybody else.”
Affordable housing is Hendricks’ first priority, and he said “… as we’re looking at bringing businesses to town, do we have housing for those workers?” He noted that lack of affordable housing would prevent good solutions for unhoused people in Bloomington, and would drive away students from local universities that might have otherwise remained.
However, he stops short of support for citygovernment based intervention for the unhoused, stating that “the city as a city entity that’s not really something that we get into,” but said that the city could assist in efforts taken by other bodies. He continued, “We do have the nonprofits that are there and trying to find the solutions for permanent supportive housing.”
Hendricks has compared serving as mayor to being a team captain, and says that the role of a mayor should be to build consensus among the city counci-
lors, and as a result he stated, “To be mayor, you should be somebody who has served on a council.” Hendricks believes his relative youth and workingclass background set him apart from the other two candidates.
“I am from a younger generation, I am trying to offer new and innovative ways of thinking of things,” he said. “I see it as a greater opportunity for connection with a majority of our population.”
Henricks also highlighted a need for communication between levels of government, particularly where economic cooperation and seeking grants are concerned, and praised city manager Jeff Jurgens in this regard.
He stated, “I really want to see more collaboration between our city and our state and federal partners,” noting that what communication exists is currently handled by staff rather than elected leaders. Hendricks said that his move to Bloomington as an adult (in 2016) keeps him apart from the artificial rivalry between the city and its neighbor Normal, which bars effective coordination.
Hendricks has been a major support of the down-
Prairie Pride Coalition releases 2024 resource directory
This year’s LGBTQ directory has more than 140 entries.
By Caleb Sneeden
BLOOMINGTON/NORMAL – The Prairie Pride Coalition (PPC) recently released the 2024-2025 edition of their Business and Resource Directory. This is the seventh edition of their directory, which identifies local businesses and organizations owned, operated by, and/or actively supportive of LGBTQ+ people and causes. More than 140 entries are listed within 34 categories ranging from Restaurants to
Spiritual Communities.
Dave Bentlin, the president of PPC, believes the directory to be an invaluable tool for the local queer community.
“It guides our community to the resources they need,” he said. “In a larger sense, it gives them a level of assurance that there is widespread support for them in Bloomington/Normal and McLean County.”
Bentlin commented positively on the increase in the number of Spiritual Communities.
“The first edition of the directory contained three entries in that category; this edition has 11 houses of worship listed,” he said. He continued, saying this “… is a clear signal that houses of worship are increas-
ingly changing outdated policies and doing the heavy lifting to provide an inclusive environment to LGBTQ+ people.” According to Pew Research, an increasing number of spiritual groups and communities support LGBTQ+ people over previous years. In contrast to previous editions, the 2024-2025 Directory will not have a physical version. A link to the Directory can be found here on Prairie Pride Coalition’s website. Bentlin also pointed out that QR codes to the Directory are present on PPC cards and the PPC decals found at various stores, offices, and houses of worship.
(Editor’s note: The Illinois Eagle is listed on the directory)
LGBTQ+ college students in Southern Illinois are eligible. Deadline for Tim Rice Scholarship on Aug. 15
By Tom Wray
CARBONDALE – The deadline for the Tim Rice Scholarship is coming up on Aug. 15.
The scholarships is the first to be offered by the Rainbow Café LGBTQ Center in Carbondale. It’s named after one of the center’s founders and is for LGBTQ+ students in Southern Illinois.
The scholarship is worth at least $1,500 and can be used for all college-related expenses such as tuition, books, and housing.
Requirements for the scholarship are:
· Applicant must identify as LGBTQ+.
· Applicant has made contributions to the Southern Illinois LGBTQ+ community in some way.
· Must be enrolled in an accredited United States college or university (community college, 2- or 4-year university, or graduate student) for the 2024-2025 school year (deferment may be requested for up to one year).
· Applicant can be documented or undocumented.
· Applicant is not a Rainbow Cafe LGBTQ Center staff member, board member, or related to an RC staff or Board member.
· Applicant demonstrates financial need.
· Applicant resides in the general Southern Illinois region – such as Alexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Massac, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Union, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, or Williamson counties.
· Recipient must be available to receive the Tim Rice Scholarship at the Rainbow Cafe Annual Gala, currently scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5. They’ll receive three complimentary tickets to the gala, one for the recipient and two guests. Applications can be made through this Google form. A printable PDF application is available at www.rainbowcafe.org/scholarship.
Pritzker endorses Kamala Harris for Demo-
By Tom Wray
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for President.
President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday, July 21, after weeks of building pressure after his poor performance in the first presidential debate last month.
Pritzker had been considered by political watchers as possible nominee in the event of Biden stepping down from the campaign.
Pritzker issued his endorsement on Monday morning on X.
He started his letter on the post with “I am proud to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States.”
Pritzker has been a vocal opponent of Republican nominee Donald Trump since taking office, and the endorsement continued that opposition.
“He is a man wholly unfit for the office of the presidency both in character and temperament,” he wrote. “We must defeat him and his MAGA allies at every level this November.”
Pritzker wrote that he was surprised that Biden dropped out but had also talked with other party leaders about plans for November.
“She represents our Party’s best chance to defeat Donald Trump in November, and I will work my heart out to help her do that,” he wrote.
Pritzker was also among several Democratic governors who are being looked at as a possible vice president pick for Harris.
TV Show Review: Hazbin Hotel
By Lauren Gray
I decided to watch Hazbin Hotel after seeing a lot of hype for it on the internet, especially among people who enjoy tv shows with LGBTQ+ characters. I was particularly intrigued when YouTuber Rowen Ellis mentioned Hazbin Hotel in one of her video essays, one about queercoded villains (posted below). So I decided to finally watch it this past pride month.
I immediately fell in love with the show, with the first song, “A Happy Day in Hell”. What can say, I love a good musical number? All the songs are great, but I particularly loved “Stayed Gone” and “Loser, Baby”. Also Charlie and her girlfriend, Vaggie, remind me of Rapunzel and Cassandra in Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, except that they’re an actually canon couple. I loved being able to get similar characters in actual canon sapphic relationship. Also one of the actors from Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure is in Hazbin Hotel, Jeremy Jordan, who voices Lucifer Morningstar, and played the starring role in Newsies.
Hazbin Hotel is an adult animation musical horror tv show that follows Charlie Morningstar, princess of hell and daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. (It’s also part of the same franchise as the YouTube series Helluva Boss.) The angels have a yearly “extermination” in Hell during which they kill many of the residents in Hell. So Charlie starts a hotel in Hell aimed at giving Sinners in Hell a chance at redemption and a place in Heaven. She also has her girlfriend, Vaggie, the sole resident, porn star Angel Dust, Alastor the radio demon who advertises the hotel, Husk the grumpy hotel bartender, and Nifty the tiny yet bloodthirsty maid. But when Charlie proposes the idea of the hotel to the angels (including first man Adam) they reveal that they are planning another extermination only six months later, one that Charlie and hotel residents must prepare for.
It’s also a really funny show, as it’s a comedy. And it was has great characters, like Alastor the radio demon, a morally gray character of mysterious origins,
who’s great at singing and throwing shade. He has become my favorite character. I also love Angel Dust and Husk, especially the relationship between the two characters. They don’t have a romantic relationship, but it seems like they may have one at some point the future? I hope they do. The song Loser, Baby was a great duet between them. Stayed Gone is also a great duet, between Alastor the radio demon, and Vox the television demon. My favorite episodes were the ones containing these musical numbers which were, the second episode, Radio Killed the Video Star, and the fourth episode, Masquerade.
I was a little disappointed that there was only eight episodes of the show in Season 1, and we’ll probably have to wait a while for Season 2. But I know that animation takes a lot of work, so I get it. I’m just crossing my fingers that it will be renewed for a second season. I know a lot of queer shows on streaming services, like First Kill, don’t even get that.
Hazbin Hotel. Ericka Herringson, Michael Kovach, Gabriel Christian Brown, Mick Lauer, Stephanie Beatriz, Keith David, Amir Talai, Jeremy Jordan. Spindlehorse Toons, A24, Bento Box Enterntainment, & Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon Prime.
New book out soon for Peoria queer author
“Pride and Persistence” is a sequel to Joe Chianakas’ 2023 book “Singlets and Secrets.”
By Caleb Sneeden
PEORIA- Local queer author Joe Chianakas is anticipating the release of his newest novel, “Pride and Persistence”.
“Pride and Persistence” is a sequel to his 2023 book “Singlets and Secrets”, which was his first published with Mad Cat. It is a continuation of Aiden Rothe’s story from the first book, where he, as Chianakas said, has “accepted himself to a certain degree” after he and the other students “went through hell last year.”
Chianakas explained the meaning behind the title of this book by saying, “Those two words, I think, sum up almost everything I want to do with this series. I want to celebrate pride in terms of one’s identity. I also really want to tackle the theme of persistence in terms of how much work we need to do… to accept ourselves and move forwards.”
Chianakas highlights the sequel’s focus on transgender and gender equality issues in contrast to the first book’s exclusive focus on Aiden and his development. Chianakas said “I wanted to open it
up to a lot more as the series progresses and make every letter in LGBQIA feel represented and seen in the story.”
Notably, he mentioned the introduction of a new student in Aiden’s high school named Michelle, who is both a black belt and a transgender girl. Chinakas also said that rivalry between queer students and their athletic teams is a core part of “Pride and Persistence”. “We have this ‘Why are we fighting each other?’ theme,” he said, which he hopes will be taken as an allegory for infighting in the LGBTQ community. “We shouldn’t ever be fighting each other, we should be fighting for one another.”
Chianakas has been a teacher for 23 years (he is currently a professor), and has previously mentioned that teaching, LGBTQ advocacy, and writing are intertwined to him.
A student’s mental health crisis was a wake-up call to him, Chianakas said. He recounted that a student he had gently reached out to over absences asked him for a recommended therapist. The student told Chianakas months later that when he reached out initially they had attempted suicide because they were queer and without a support network.
Chianakas said that this incident helped him believe that “Never again am I not going to be who I am in front of my students They need to know
Number 1: queer people are your neighbors, your professors and your friends… and Number 2: I want to connect with people in my class who maybe don’t have anywhere else to go.”
He explained that he has encountered more students beyond the first in similar crises, and said that hate across media “… sends a message to everyone else seeing that, that if a person is struggling with their identity in that way that you view them as less than.”
Chianakas says he’s currently writing the third book in this planned trilogy. “I’m almost done with it, actually. Fearless and Fabulous is the working title,” he said with a laugh. “We’ll see where that goes. ”
Chianakas detailed some of his struggles in the writing industry, including receiving over 50 rejections for his first book, “Rabbit in Red” and the many, many revisions he made before it was accepted. His advice for authors is “You have to be willing to fail, rush yourself off, and move forward,” a message he connected to the main themes in “Pride and Persistence.”
He also has a horror novel titled “Darkness Calls” coming out this year from the publisher Rowan and Rutherford.
“Singlets and Secrets” can be found now on a number of websites, including Allstora, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.
Illinois LGBTQ Resources
Bloomington/Normal
ISU Pride
https://www.facebook.com/isupride/ prideilstu@gmail.com (309) 438-8968
Mid Central Community Action https://www.mccainc.org/ mcca@mccainc.org (309) 829-0691
PFLAG Bloomington/Normal https://www.facebook.com/PFLAGBN pflagbn@gmail.com (309) 828-5554
Prairie Pride Coalition http://www.ppc-il.org/ info@ppc-il.org (309) 827-4005
Queer Coalition at Illinois State University https://www.facebook.com/ ISUQueerCoalition lgbtq@ilstu.edu
Stand Up for Social Justice - BloNo, IL https://www.facebook.com/ StandUpforJusticeBloNo socialjusticebn@gmail.com
Carbondale
Pride in Action, Southern Illinois https://prideinactionsi.org
Rainbow Café LGBTQ Center https://www.gcapnow.com/ info@gcapnow.com
SIU LGBTQ Resource Center https://smrc.siu.edu/lgbtq/ lgbtq@siu.edu (618) 453-5627
Champaign/Urbana
Amasong http://amasong.org/ office@amasong.org
Greater Community AIDS Project https://www.gcapnow.com/ info@gcapnow.com
U of I LGBT Resource Center https://oiir.illinois.edu/GSRC
Uniting Pride of Champaign County https://www.unitingpride.org/ info@unitingpride.org
Decatur
Decatur Pride https://www.facebook.com/DecaturPrideIL decaturpride.media@gmail.com
PFLAG Decatur IL https://www.facebook.com/ groups/652120161630148/
Jacksonville
The SAGE Project coldalphabetsoup@hotmail.com
Lincoln
Logan County Pride logancountypride@gmail.com
Quad Cities
Clock, Inc LGBT+ Community Center https://www.clockinc.org/ info@clockinc.org (309) 558-0956
The Project of the Quad Cities https://www.tpqc.org/ tyler@tpqc.org (309) 762-5433
Peoria
Acorn Equality Fund https://www.acornequalityfund.org/ acorn1999@gmail.com
Central Illinois Friends https://www.friendsofcentralillinois.org/ outreach@centralillinoisfriends.org (309) 671-2144
Peoria Mutual Aid Network peoriamutualaid.com peoriamutualaid@gmail.com (815) 627-0716
Peoria Proud https://www.peoriaproud.org/ admin@peoriaproud.org (414) 416-7658
Peoria, IL - National Organization For Women peorianow.org/contact-us nowpeoria@gmail.com
Rockton
Rockton Pride rocktonpride@gmail.com
Springfield
ACLU of Illinois Springfield Chapter springfieldchapteraclu@gmail.com
Coalition of Rainbow Alliances https://www.springfieldcoral.org/ coral.springfield@gmail.com
Fifth Street Renaissance/Sara Center http://www.fsr-sara.org/ info@fsr-sara.org
Intricate Minds tiara.intricateminds@gmail.com (217) 670-3520
Phoenix Center http:// www.phoenixcenterspringfield.org/ jcool@phoenixcenterspringfield.org (217) 528-5253
PRIDE At Heartland Community College http://www.heartland.edu/
UIS Gender and Sexuality Student Services
https://www.uis.edu/gsss gss@uis.edu (217) 206-8316
Statewide
ACLU of Illinois https://www.aclu-il.org/ (312) 201-9740
Equality Illinois http://www.equalityillinois.us/ info@eqil.org (773) 477-7173
Illinois HIV CareConnect https://hivcareconnect.com
Illinois Safe Schools Alliance https://www.ilsafeschools.org/ (312) 629-2988
Planned Parenthood of Illinois https://www.plannedparenthood.org/ planned-parenthood-illinois (312) 592-6800
PFLAG Peoria
https://www.pflagpeoria.org/
Speak Out Illinois
https://www.speakoutillinoisllc.com/ support@speakoutillinoisllc.com (309) 981-7233
