Seven two-bedroom two baths and a one bed one bath below market-rate rental units available at Five Points Lakeview, 3605 N Ravenswood!
Five Points Lakeview is a new construction rental building that features 52 residential units; a rooftop patio, gym, bike storage, and outdoor parking is available. Trader Joes, Loba Cafe, and the CTA Brown Line are within blocks of the property! The property is located within the Hamilton CPS School District
Affordable rents range from $849.00 to $1,659.00 a month. Must be income eligible. Households must earn no more than the maximum income levels below:
Unit 508, One Bedroom One Bath, 80% of Area Median Income: One person - $67,150; 2 persons -$76,750
Units 403 + 407, Two Bedrooms Two Baths, 70% of Area Median Income: 2 persons -$67,200; 3 persons - $75,600; 4 persons - $83,930
Units 303 + 307, Two Bedrooms Two Baths, 60% of Area Median Income: 2 persons -$57,600; 3 persons - $64,800; 4 persons - $71,940
Units 202 + 207, Two Bedrooms Two Baths, 50% of Area Median Income: 2 persons -$48,000; 3 persons - $54000; 4 persons - $59,950
Unit 203, Two Bedrooms Two Baths, 40% of Area Median Income: 2 persons -$38,400; 3 persons - $43,200; 4 persons - $47,960
Please contact the Five Points Lakeview for an application and more information at 773-308-6806 or info@fivepointslakeview.com or https://fivepointslakeview.com/
Applicants with vouchers or other third-party subsidies are welcome to apply. These units are subject to monitoring, compliance, and other restrictions by the City of Chicago’s Department of Housing. For more information visit https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/affordable-requirements-ordinance/home.html
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Arts & Entertainment Event highlights of the week!
SportsWise
The SportsWise team discusses WNBA star Caitlin Clark.
Cover Story: PrIDE MONTH
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is tracking 529 anti-LGBTQ proposed laws across all 50 state legislatures in the United States -- and Illinois is among the 11 states with the highest number of such bills. Plus, learn about exciting Pride Month events in our special calendar, including the Pride Parade, with its theme that references "the right to exist safely and authentically....that no one is truly free until everyone is free to be."
From the Streets
A federal court upholds an injunction that prevents the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from carrying out a Trump-led overhaul of supportive housing and homelessness programs; Chicago and suburban Cook County programs remain funded through the second quarter of 2026.
CN announces a grant of $750,000 to three organizations near the railroad's Homewood campus that would help with homelessness prevention.
ONE Northside awards two women: an SRO tenants' union leader and a high school student active in many areas.
The Playground
DISCLAIMER: StreetWise publishes perspectives from vendors and contributors to reflect a range of lived experiences and viewpoints. These opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of StreetWise. We are committed to fostering dialogue grounded in dignity and respect, and we do not endorse language or perspectives that harm or dehumanize others.
Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher dhamilton@streetwise.org
Julie Youngquist, Executive director jyoungquist@streetwise.org
Ph: 773-334-6600 Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL, 60616
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
Compiled by Dave Hamilton
Approachable Opera!
‘Der Rosenkavalier’
Chicago City Opera (CCO) presents one of late-Romantic composer Richard Strauss’ most beloved works, “Der Rosenkavalier.” Composed by Strauss to a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, “Der Rosenkavalier” requires massive forces both on stage and in the pit, and thus, is somewhat of a rarity for traditional opera companies. In CCO’s signature pared down style, the grand opera is stripped down to its raw essentials, highlighting the complex relationships, sophisticated humor, and nuanced character at its heart. Set in a 1980’s American yachting community, CCO’s production brings Strauss’ deceptively poignant comedy to audiences in a uniquely intimate setting. “Der Rosenkavalier” is presented in two performances only: Friday, June 5, 7 p.m., at DANK Haus German American Cultural Center (4740 N Western Ave.) and Sunday, June 7, 7 p.m., at Fulton Street Collective (1821 W. Hubbard St Unit 307). General admission tickets are $30 with preferred seating for $40 and select VIP tickets for $100. Tickets are on sale now at chicagocityopera.com
Chicago Artist Returns!
Nathaniel Mary Quinn: ‘A Love Letter to My Mother’
Nathaniel Mary Quinn, an internationally acclaimed Chicago-born artist whose first canvases were the walls of his family’s apartment in the Robert Taylor Homes, is returning home for his first solo museum exhibition in the city. The National Public Housing Museum, 919 S. Ada St., recently named by USA Today as one of the best new museums in the country, presents Nathaniel Mary Quinn: “A Love Letter To My Mother,” on view through August 23. Throughout the exhibition, visitors are invited to consider humanity in all of its complexity by processing our lived experiences through a lens of artistic innovation. Alongside 10 of the artist’s works on canvas and paper, the show includes a Robert Taylor Homes living room designed from memory to conjure the artist’s family apartment circa 1984, and an adjoining reading room and resource area offering books, images and historical materials related to the Robert Taylor Homes. Visit nphm.org for more information.
A Whole New World!
‘Blooming Under Blue Skies’ At the heart of Nova Linea Musica’s season finale is the world premiere of a Nova Linea Musica commission by Grammy-nominated composer Clarice Assad (pictured). The evening also features Slovenian composer Leon Firšt’s “Two Slovenian Songs,” Turkish composer Hakki Cengiz Eren’s “Three Portals” with guitarist Mak Grgić, and American composer David Ludwig’s “April Variations,” performed with Desirée Ruhstrat and Wendy Sutter. The program closes with a set of pieces by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla including “Histoire du Tango, Café 1930” performed by Grgić and Rabia Brooke; “Oblivion” performed by Grgić, Ruhstrat and Sutter; and “La Calle” performed by Ruhstrat and Sutter before all four performers join in “Libertango.” June 3, 6:30 p.m. at Guarneri Hall, 11 E. Adams St., pre-concert discussion at 5:45 p.m., and a post-concert reception. Single tickets are $40 and include access to both the pre- and post-concert events at novalineamusica.org.
15 Minutes of Fame!
‘Andy Warhol presents: The Cocaine Play’
“Andy Warhol Presents: The Cocaine Play” is set in New York City where Andy Warhol (no, not that Andy Warhol) is stuck. He hasn’t finished a painting in years and has no new ideas. W hen a mysterious actress named Marilyn Monroe (no, not that Marilyn Monroe) stumbles into his life, she sends him down an epic path of madness, murder, betrayal and the desperate pursuit of fame, sex and beauty. "Andy Warhol presents: The Cocaine Play" is a 100% fake story about 100% real people that spans three decades and asks how far one is willing to go for the chance at superstardom. Playing through July 6 at the Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N. Broadway. The performance schedule is Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. (excluding July 3 and July 4). Tickets are $15 - $45 with student and Edgewater resident discounts available at JackalopeTheatre.org
Chicago Premiere!
‘Eugene Onegin’
The Joffrey Ballet presents the Chicago premiere of Yuri Possokhov’s “Eugene Onegin,” a richly layered and deeply human exploration of love, loss, and redemption inspired by Alexander Pushkin’s poetic novel. From the acclaimed creative team behind "Anna Karenina," "Eugene Onegin"—a co-production with San Francisco Ballet—features an original score by the award-winning composer, performer, and conductor Ilya Demutsky and an immersive set design that plunges audiences into the fragility of the human heart. “Eugene Onegin” takes place for ten performances only at Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Upper Wacker Drive, from June 4-14. Tickets start at $46 at joffrey.org
Breaking the Mold!
‘Catch as Catch Can’
W hen a prodigal son returns to blue collar New England, his homecoming sets off a spiraling crisis for two families, threatening not only their relationships but their very identities. In Mia Chung’s wildly inventive "Catch as Catch Can," three actors take on six roles, bridging generation and gender, in a theatrical tour-de-force that asks what happens when we refuse to play the roles we’re prescribed. Playing June 4 - July 12 at Steppenwolf, 1650 N. Halsted. Tickets start at $54.50 at steppenwolf.org
Yap Yap Yap!
‘Talking About Godard’
“Talking About Godard” examines female friendship and cohabitation in the 90s, the artistic process and how groups do and don’t satisfy our needs. Playing through June 28 at Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are priced on a “pay what you can” scale, with a suggested price of $25. For tickets and more information, visit CuriousTheatreBranch.com
Exploring A Landmark!
‘Jeff Carter: The Singer Pavillion Project’
Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave., presents “Jeff Carter: The Singer Pavilion Project,” on view June 6 – September 20. Exploring the historic and architectural significance of the Singer Pavilion—the only building remaining of the former Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center in Bronzeville, the exhibition prompts critical reflection on the Modernist promise of social progress, and considers how architectural ideals are compromised by histories of institutional failure, abandonment, and inequality. FREE. More information at www.hydepark.org
Real-Life Stories!
‘You’re Being Ridiculous: Plot Twist’
At “You're Being Ridiculous,” real people tell true stories about their lives. Each performance is linked by rotating themes, and by the desire to make you laugh... and, once in a while, cry. Our motto: Good stories are better than good times. We laugh at ourselves and laugh with each other. Everyone has a story to tell. W hat's yours? June 4-6, 7:30 p.m., at Steppenwolf, 1650 N. Halsted St. Tickets are $30 at www.steppenwolf.org
In Isolation!
‘Spaceman’ In “Spaceman,” the difficulties of interplanetary space travel are explored in exacting detail throughout this one-woman, sci-fi odyssey. Radiation exposure, long term weightlessness, low light, extensive communication delays and poor hygiene are just a few of the challenges astronaut Molly Jennis must face as the first human to visit Mars. But she soon finds nothing compares to the psychological effects of having so much time alone. Time spent mulling over the decisions she has made and what might be waiting for her when she finally reaches her destination. Playing through June 13 at The Edge Off-Broadway, 1133 W. Catalpa Ave. Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. Ticket prices are $15-45 at producingbody.com
The Caitlin clark Effect
John: What effect has Caitlin Clark had on the WNBA? First off, WNBA away-game attendance averaged 9,807 in 2024, but for Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, it was almost double that -- 17,035, according to the DC Report. The WNBA also has eight partnerships including Delta Airlines and the shoe company New Balance. She may have the same effect as Dr. J., Larry Bird and Magic Johnson had with Converse, and later on, Michael Jordan with Nike and Air Jordans.
The WNBA has also expanded to three new franchises: the Golden State Valkries last year, Toronto and Portland this year.
Tom Brady, the football icon, purchased part-ownership of the Las Vegas Aces in March, and Sue Bird (no relation to Larry Bird), purchased partownership of the Seattle Storm in April.
Most importantly, I think, there has been a huge $2.2 billion, 11-year, TV deal signed with Disney, NBCUniveral and Amazon, which also partners with the NBA and NFL.
So, her effect has been astonishing. If not for her, I believe you could have seen a work
stoppage or some franchises folding. But with her in there, like the Timbuk3 song says, “The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.”
Russell: When she came to Chicago and the Fever played the Sky, Wintrust Arena was just so crowded. I have been a fan since the WNBA first started. I am proud of her.
Allen: I am glad we are talking about the WNBA because women’s basketball is really skyrocketing. They are finally getting recognition. They are looking at Caitlin Clark as having the world in a chokehold. She is really good, with 20 points, 4.5 rebounds and eight assists on average.
But how can you mention Caitlin Clark without men-
tioning Candace Parker or Angel Reese? Reese was our star with the Chicago Sky until she was traded to Atlanta. She still has a good record of 11.5 points, 15 rebounds and 2.5 assists in her first two outings with the Dream.
I love to see women’s basketball, ever since we went as SportsWise commentators, when we still had Angel Reese on our team.
John: Indiana came out on the short end 107-104 in a recent game with Dallas. But that game was more exciting than a lot of NBA playoff games, which have a lot of 30-point blowouts. But they played the game the right way. I am disappointed she missed out on the threepointer, but she also came out of an injury, and she’s
getting back from things where she was a rookie.
Russell: Women come to play the game. She’s only been around a couple years. Wait until she’s been around for a while.
Allen: She is working on her defense, and I am looking for her to do great things, like Russell says, get a ring before her career is over. I am looking at upcoming players in college: JuJu Watkins out of the University of Southern California. Just a freshman, already getting 24 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists. I am hoping the Chicago Sky can get her.
Any comments, suggestions or topic ideas for the SportsWise team? Email StreetWise Editor Suzanne Hanney at suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com
Vendors John Hagan, Russell Adams, and A. Allen chat about the world of sports.
The ACLU is monitoring 529 anti-LGBTQ proposed laws nationwide & in Illinois
by Suzanne Hanney
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is tracking 529 anti-LGBTQ proposed laws across all 50 state legislatures in the United States -- and Illinois is among the 11 states with the highest number of such bills.
Oklahoma has the most proposals, with 43, followed by Missouri and West Virginia, each with 39; and Tennessee, with 38. Iowa and Minnesota each have 30 possible pieces of legislation and South Carolina has 26.
Illinois and Michigan each have 23 bills regarding the definition of sex, school sports segregated by sex, school curriculum, age restrictions on transgender health care – even on whether governmentsponsored entities can host drag shows. Wisconsin and New Hampshire round out the list, with 16 each.
have not taken performance-enhancing drugs, with penalties for misleading statements. Introduced by state Rep. Regan Deering, a Decatur Republican, the proposed bill had the support of all 40 Republicans in the 118-member Illinois House -- which includes 78 Democrats. However, the bill was in the Rules Committee and had not seen any action since its last co-sponsor signed on in January.
The ACLU was also watching six more similar bills concerning school sports strictly segregated by sex, for a total of seven. Five had originated in the Illinois House and two in the Senate. One of them had 10 supporters, but the remainder had only one or two.
However, as of press time May 21, the 23 bills in Illinois are unlikely to become law, because few of them have more than the sole vote of their original sponsor in the General Assembly. They were introduced and sometimes read once, then sent to the Assignments or Rules Committees, where they have remained until the end of the two-year session. The 104th General Assembly ended May 31, 2026 and the bills have expired. If reintroduced in the next session, they will be given a new number.
The proposal with the most support was House Bill 1117, “Interscholastic Sports Gender,” which would require any competitive scholastic sport to be designated as expressly male, female, or coeducational. Any team designated as female would be available only to females, based on their biological sex. School districts would have to obtain written statements signed by a student’s parent or guardian verifying the student’s age, biological sex and that they
The Illinois Senate, meanwhile, has 59 members: 40 Democrats and 19 Republicans. The most prolific sponsor of anti-LGBTQ legislation on the ACLU’s list is state Sen. Andrew S. Chesney, a Freeport Republican, who introduced seven bills. Chesney originated both Senate bills on school sports.
More controversially, “to stop radical gender ideology from shaping Illinois law,” Chesney proposed to amend the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code to expand the definition of “mental illness” to include transgenderism, or the condition of identifying with a gender other than the one assigned at birth.
“What began as a call for tolerance has morphed into a government-enforced ideology that silences dissent and demands obedience,” he said in a statement just after the introduction of the SB3842’s introduction on February 6. The bill remained in the Illinois Senate Assignments Committee with just his solitary support.
Teresa Silva, interim executive director at the Phoenix Center in Springfield, told Foxillinois.com the bill was unlikely to pass but that battling it was an energy drain.
“It's not worrisome, but it's always exhausting to try and fight these things, and then it's always just pecking at your mental health all of the time, right? I think it's meant to cause chaos and rile up the base of support that he has."
Silva told Foxillinois.com that transgender was in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) before 2013, “but now it was taken out because this isn’t a mental illness. We’ve tried that path and it has failed. It’s part of human reality and identity. It delegitimizes real mental health issues.”
The DSM did not mention gender identity until the third edition in 1980 used the term “transsexualism,” according to psychiatry.org. This term was replaced with “gender identity in adults and adolescence” in the 1994 fourth edition in an effort to reduce stigma. DSM-5 in 2013 eliminated “gender identity disorder” and replaced it with “gender dysphoria:” a sense of mental discomfort, the opposite of “euphoria.”
However, some advocates and psychiatrists continued to debate whether “gender dysphoria” created an issue of identity rather than a true disorder, according to psychia-
try.org. The distress is caused by body and mind not in alignment, and also by “societal marginalization of gendervariant people.”
According to a PDF on the American Psychiatric Association website, gender dysphoria includes “strong desires to be treated as the other gender or to be rid of one’s sex characteristics, or a strong conviction that one has feelings and reactions typical of the other gender.” In children, the condition “causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning” and is identified after verbalization for at least six months.
The diagnostic term is necessary to preserve insurance coverage for treatment that can include counseling, crosssex hormones, gender reassignment surgery, and subsequent hormone treatment. “Replacing ‘disorder’ with ‘dysphoria’ in the diagnostic label is not only more appropriate and consistent with familiar clinical sexology terminology, it also removes the connotation that the patient is ‘disordered,’” according to the psychiatry association. (https:// www.psychiatry.org/file%20library/psychiatrists/practice/ dsm/apa_dsm-5-gender-dysphoria.pdf)
Across the U.S., about 723,000 (3.28%) youth ages 13 to 17 identify as transgender, as do more than 2,136,100 (0.81%) adults age 18+, according to the Williams Insti-
tute at the University of California Los Angeles Law School, the leading research center on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy.
In Illinois, those identifying as transgender include 64,400 adults over 18 (0.66%), and also 27,500 youth age 13 to 17 (3.18%).
Five bills in the General Assembly would restrict medical doctors regarding puberty-suppressing drugs and sex-change operations for people under age 18.
SB2474 and SB3920, filed by Chesney in 2025 and 2026, respectively, would forbid a medical doctor from prescribing or administering “puberty-suppressing drugs or cross-sex hormones and perform[ing] surgical orchiectomy or castration, urethroplasty, vaginoplasty, mastectomy, phalloplasty, or metoidioplasty on biologically healthy and anatomically normal persons under the age of 18” for the purpose of treating what the bill calls the “the subjective, internal psychological condition of gender dysphoria or gender discordance.” The bills have no other supporters and remain in the Assignments Committee.
HB1214, filed by state Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich), and HB3819, filed by State Rep. Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa), would revoke the license of any doctor who performed sex-reassignment procedures on anyone below age 18. Both bills have only the support of their original sponsors and remain in the Rules Committee. HB4482, proposed by state Rep. William Hauter (R-Morton), a doctor and assistant professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, says a doctor shall not administer any procedure “enabling the minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor's sex” and allows action by the Attorney General. It has 13 co-sponsors and also remains in the Rules Committee.
Eight bills would restrict student and educator rights: access to public rest rooms, dressing rooms or locker rooms on the basis of sex or requiring a publisher to supply a content rating to schoolbooks.
Still others would restrict expression, such as the ability of government entities to host “live adult performances,” i.e. drag shows. One bill would allow only the U.S. and Illinois flags to be flown; another would also allow the POW/MIA flag.
Legislation can be tracked at the Illinois General Assembly website, ilga.gov
PRIDE EVENTS
June 6
ROCKFORD 2026
PRIDE PARADE & PARTY
Downtown Rockford, 513 E. State St., Rockford | 11 am
The 2026 Rockford Area Pride festivities are bringing an unforgettable day of visibility, high-energy entertainment, and inclusion to Downtown Rockford. FREE.
June 7
THE ART OF PRIDE
Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave. | Noon-4 pm
Now in its fifth year, the event returns with an afternoon of queer joy, radical imagination, and collective celebration, with programming ranging from a queer artist vendor market, artmaking, film screening, live DJ, to explorations of queerness in the natural world. An allages, family-friendly event. Registration is encouraged at hydeparkart.org and walk-ups are also welcome.
June 7
PRIDE & PROVISIONS MARKET
Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St. Noon-5 pm
Queer makers. Strong drinks. Summer energy. Pride & Provisions is a high-vibe market celebrating LGBTQ+ creativity, culture, and community. Pride & Provisions is back—bringing together Chicago’s queer creatives, makers, and community for an afternoon of shopping, sipping, and celebration.
June 10
WHITE SOX PRIDE NIGHT
Guaranteed Rate Field, 333 W. 35th St. 6:30 pm
An evening dedicated to uplifting and supporting the LGBTQ+ community to support Howard Brown Health.
June 12-14
ANDERSONVILLE MIDSOMMARFEST
On Clark, Foster to Gregory
Now in its 60th year, annual celebration of Swedish tradition in Chicago also highlights up-and-coming LGBTQIA+ artists; 50 music and entertainment acts on four stages, varied food and artisans. Lineup includes American English, Too Much Molly, Ariana DJ, Dancing Queen (ABBA Salute), Drag Queen Story Time, Lakeside Pride Latin Band, Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus and more. Admission is $16.50/day; $36.73 3-day. Proceeds to the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, a 501c6 non-profit organization, to support festival expenses, neighborhood events, small business networking events, neighborhood beautification -- and over a dozen local non-profits. andersonville.org/midsommarfest
June 14
PRIDE MAKER’S MARKET
Hotel 55, 55 E. Ontario St. | Noon-5 pm Shop a curated lineup of LGBTQ+ owned businesses, BIPOC makers, artists, designers, and wellness brands showcasing handmade goods, Prideinspired creations, art, apparel, self-care products, and more — all highlighting Chicago’s diverse creative talent. In partnership with Brave Space Alliance. FREE.
June 15
CHICAGO CUBS PRIDE CELEBRATION
June 20-21
CHICAGO PRIDE FEST
Halsted, Addison to Grace Street 25th annual celebration of LGBTQ+ live, culture and community offers live music from local and national talent on 3 stages, Youth Pride Space for teens, best of Chicago drag performance, Proud Pet Parade with prizes, dance exhibitions, Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, guest speakers and 150+ food and merchandise vendors. Headliners include Durand Bernarr, Alex Chapman + Zoe Gitter present: Gag, G Flip and Willa Ford. Organized by Northalsted Business Alliance, fest seeks a $20 suggested donation to help pay performers and festival workers, support local nonprofits & community improvements like the Chicago Pride Crosswalks: 14 rainbow-paved intersections, the longest installation of its kind in the world. pridefestchicago.com
June 26
NORTH SIDE QUEER PRIDE
Roger Park’s neighborhood-wide celebration of queer joy, cultural diversity, and community connection. Multiple locations including Glenwood Avenue between Lunt and Farwell, Jarvis Square, Jarvis Avenue between Greenview and Sheridan, a block of Paulina between Howard and Juneway, and businesses on Clark Street and Devon Avenue. Neighborhood-wide celebration of queer joy, cultural diversity, and community connection.
June 27
PROUD TO RUN
Wrigley Field, 1060 W. Addison St. 7 pm
The annual Pride Celebration at Wrigley Field, 1060 W. Addison, will feature local LGBTQ+ owned and friendly businesses at Gallagher Way, curated music and entertainment, festive fan activities and more to benefit the Center on Halsted. www.mlb.com/cubs/tickets/specials/ pride
Montrose Beach, 601 W. Montrose Ave. Proud To Run—an annual 10K run and 5K run/walk—welcomes over 1,000 participants each year. The event celebrates Pride through fitness and community while raising funds to support LGBTQ+ organizations and programs across the greater Chicago area. $54.00 – $69.90. Proudetorunchicago.org
June 27
BERWYN PRIDE WALK
The Walk begins at Harlem & Windsor, just outside of The James Joyce Irish Pub at 12 pm., ending at 2 pm at East Avenue.
Berwyn’s Pride Walk is a celebration of Berwyn’s remarkable transformation into one of Chicago’s most culturally vibrant and diverse communities.
Chica
June 27
NAVY PIER PRIDE
Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave.
Navy Pier Pride is a full day of free festivities in honor of the LGBTQ+ community at the city’s iconic lakefront attraction. Don’t miss live music, educational programs, performances from local LGBTQIA+ artists, on-site resources from community partners, and more. FREE.
June 27-28
BACK LOT BASH
Cheetah Gym, 5248 N. Clark St. 4-10:30 pm
Showcase for female artists and community organizations during Pride Weekend. Age 21+ Tickets $19.46+ backlotbashchicago.com
June 28
PRIDE PARADE
Sheridan & Broadway -staging; viewing begins at Grace | Sun @ 11 am 55th annual parade is one of the nation’s oldest and largest Pride celebrations. Grand Marshals are journalist and historian Tracy Baim; civil rights leader Mona Noriega; philanthropist and community advocate Evette Cardona; and the Alliance of Illinois Judges, the state’s LGBTQ+ judges’ association. Together, they represent decades of leadership, advocacy, and service to Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community and beyond. This year’s theme, “Free to Be Proud,” is “intentional and declarative: Pride has never just been about celebration – it is about visibility, dignity, resilience, and the right to exist safely and authentically. It is a reminder that no one is truly free until everyone is free to be.” Info and volunteer signups at pridechicago.org FREE.
August 7-9
NORTHALSTED MARKET DAYS
Halsted Street, Belmont to Addison Fri 5-10 pm. Sat & Sun 11 am-10 pm
Half-mile-long lineup of live music on 4 stages, 250+ vendors, arts, crafts, food and drink, dance demos, drag performances celebrates community; it’s one of Thrillist’s Can’t-Miss Queer Events, 2023 Best of Gay Cities Travel-Worthy Festival. $20 suggested donation helps support festival, local nonprofits, Pride Crosswalks. northalsted.com/ main-events/northalsted-market-days/
August 21 & 22
CLAIRE LOCHMUELLER:
‘CRACKS, A ONE-TRANS-WOMAN DARK COMEDY MEMOIR’
Steppenwolf, 1650 N Halsted St. 7:30 pm
Through a hybrid of storytelling, standup comedy and theatre, this one-transwoman dark comedy memoir by Claire Lochmueller details a journey from a childhood in the Catholic Church/ JROTC military school to a career as a multi-award-winning trans theatre-maker. It navigates topics of gender identity, substance abuse and finding joy in a story about how two lives, through laughter and tears, became one trans identity. Tickets are $15-$30 at steppenwolf.org
July
(PRIDE SOUTH SIDE)
DuSable Museum, 740 E. 56th Pl. Pride South Side hosts a village of boutique items and handmade goods that stand for something, performers, food and beverage vendors, community organizations. pridesouthside.org
August 27 - September 6
BAMBI BANKS
PRESENTS: ‘CLUE UNIVERSITY: A DRAG PARODY’ BY NEUTRAL GENA
Steppenwolf, 1650 N. Halsted St. Th-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 3 pm
“Clue University” is a slasher parody play that combines all the fun and whimsy of the game Clue with the complicated world of a collegiate rush week. In this thrilling murder mystery, six Sorority Sisters must unmask a killer living amongst them, testing their bonds of sisterhood and bringing to light the question: is blood thicker than power? $33 at steppenwolf.org
US Federal court upholds block to overhaul of federal homelessness funding
On April 1, a federal appeals court upheld an injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from implementing its proposed funding plan for supportive housing and homelessness programs. The plan, released by HUD under the Trump administration, would have reallocated up to $3.9 billion in funding for major homelessness services programs and left at least 170,000 people at risk of losing housing, according to homelessness services advocates.
In November 2025, HUD rescinded its initial funding plan for fiscal year 2025. Its new plan included sweeping changes to grant opportunities for supportive housing programs. Funding would have been redirected from permanent supportive housing toward temporary housing and treatment programs.
The new funding plan is just one example of the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle Housing First programs, which focus on providing housing to recipients without prerequisites like being sober. Most experts say that the historically bipartisan programs are the most effective way to end homelessness.
In late November and early December, a coalition of state attorneys general, including Illinois Atty. Gen Kwame Raoul, and a group of nonprofits, including the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), filed two lawsuits against HUD, arguing that the new conditions were unlawful. In a preliminary decision late last year, a federal judge temporarily blocked the changes while considering the case.
In March, the Department of Justice appealed the preliminary injunction on behalf of HUD. The appeal “underscores HUD’s commitment to reform the misguided ‘Housing First’ approach that funded the self-serving homeless industrial complex, rewarded activists, and ignored solutions,” according to a HUD statement. The April 1 appeals court ruling denied that appeal.
“The record paints a disturbing picture of the harms that would flow to the plaintiffs, their constituents, and the public from issuing a stay,” the decision reads. “Conversely, HUD does not face irreparable harm from injunctions ‘bar[ring] enforcement of an unlawful [Notice of Funding Opportunity].’”
This decision came just a day after the US District Court in Rhode Island’s Judge Mary McElroy ruled against HUD’s efforts to require programs and jurisdictions it funds to adhere to the Trump administration’s views on immigrants and transgender rights.
The new decision means that the block on HUD’s proposed overhaul will remain, and that the agency will have to return to its initial pre-November funding plan until a final decision on the case is made.
The federal budget, signed on February 3, included language ensuring that these permanent supportive housing grants, under the original funding plan, are awarded as quickly as possible. The budget requires HUD to renew all grants expiring in the first three months of 2026 for a 12-month period.
On March 31, HUD announced nearly $350 million in renewal funding for over 600 projects across the country that had expired over the first quarter of 2026. All Chicago: Making Homelessness History, the Continuum of Care that coordinates federal funding projects against homelessness for the city of Chicago, received $15.4 million for projects including Housing for Health, Catholic Charities Long Term Rental Assistance, the Low Income Housing Trust Fund, Veterans Housing Initiative, and more. The Alliance to End Homelessness for Suburban Cook County received $2.16 million, for projects such as the New Hope
overhaul
Apartments permanent supportive housing, Thresholds Esperanza and more.
Second quarter renewals were announced April 27: $34.5 million for All Chicago and recipients such as the Patty Crowley Apartments, The Studios, the Thresholds Rental Assistance Project and New Hope Apartments, and others. Suburban Cook County received $10 million for projects that included South Suburban Rapid Rehousing, Southland Supportive Housing, and others.
Both CoCs received all their renewal money for the first and second quarters. However, Q3 and Q4 2026 have not yet been announced, according to Hank Sartin, director of communications at All Chicago; and Jennifer Hill,
executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness for Suburban Cook County.
“Normally they're announced all at once and usually by December of the prior year,” Hill said in an email. “Dividing them up into quarters in this way seems to have been a delay tactic. There's really no reason for it other than HUD hoped to run this competition that the courts told them they could not.”
Award announcements are not the same thing as finalized contracts, she wrote. HUD is just now sending out agreements for renewals. “They've added problematic language to those agreements, including language about gender ideology, discrimination, and immigration enforcement that hasn't held up in the courts, so that may cause additional delays.”
This decision came just a day after the US District Court in Rhode Island’s Judge Mary McElroy ruled against HUD’s efforts to require programs and jurisdictions it funds to adhere to the Trump administration’s views on immigrants and transgender rights. This plan, which HUD tried to implement for a smaller, related homelessness funding program, included blocks to programs that offered harm reduction services and were inclusive to transgender people, but this ruling prevents these changes. McElroy is the same judge who initially issued the injunction in the permanent housing funding case.
According to the NAEH, the organization still awaits the court’s final decision on the permanent housing case. “As the Trump-Vance administration continues to weaponize federal funding and attempts to hold hostage support for people experiencing homelessness—including families, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities—we are relieved that the appeals court has left the order we earned late last year in place,” NAEH said in a statement.
–Elizabeth Short, Street Sense Media (Washington, D.C.) / INSP.ngo and Suzanne Hanney in Chicago
\ The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (Chris Kain photo).
CN Announces $750,000 to support homelesness prevention ONE Northside leadership Awards
CN, formerly Canadian National Railway, announced April 2 that it will donate $750,000 over three years to help three organizations near its Homewood campus with homelessness prevention.
CN officials called safety a “core value” that extends beyond the railroad to the communities where railroaders live and work. Its Railroaders for Change initiative supports the safety and wellbeing of its neighbors.
The donation will mean $250,000 each to:
• Anew: Building Beyond Violence and Abuse, a Homewood domestic violence agency;
• Respond Now, a Chicago Heights provider of Health, Hunger and Housing services to 22 south suburban communities;
• South Suburban PADS, (SSPADS) whose mission is to prevent and end homelessness in the south suburbs via shelter, meals and affordable housing to 400 people a year.
The grants will help clients to remain safely housed, to access critical resources and to avoid relying on overcrowded emergency shelters. South Suburban PADS President Gyata Kimmons said the grant would enable the agency to expand its shelter diversion program to help 500+ families annually access emergency resources and alternative housing instead of emergency shelters.
“Safety is at the heart of everything we do at CN, and that commitment must extend beyond our tracks and into the communities where we operate,” said Buck Rogers, CN vice president, petroleum and chemicals. “We are proud to support trusted community partners with investments that help prevent homelessness and connect more people to a safe place to call home.”
ONE Northside leadership awards were presented April 23 at its annual North Star fundraiser, this year at Furama Restaurant.
Karen Foster received the Courageous Leadership Award, inspired by the life of Carlos Cardenas. Tess Lacy is recipient of the Values in Action Award, inspired by the Rev. Barb Bolsen.
Foster joined ONE Northside as she saw her SRO neighbors displaced by gentrification. When her building was sold to a developer, she formed a tenants’ union that helped them avoid homelessness. She has been a leader on Bring Chicago Home and SRO preservation.
Lacy, just 18 years old, does not wait for change – she ignites it. She has recruited other young people to the Green Schools campaign, helped to grow Safe Passage at Sullivan High School, which she attends; made a documentary about gentrification and displacement; and fostered younger leaders as a student organizer.
“When the present moment seems dark and uncertain, we defiantly say that we will build our own future, where people are put before the profits of big corporations and billionaires,” ONE Northside Executive Director Jesse Hoyt said. “We are building a future filled with abundance, rooted in justice, where everyone lives in dignity and safety. Karen and Tess are leaders in building a future that works for all of us.”
