“We’re here to support LGBTQ people in the black community, and black people in the LGBTQ community.”
Queer
Dewayne Perkins, Professional Funnyman
The Marquette Park native talks comedy, identity, and No Selfie Control
Michael Gibson
Beyoncé takes the stage in a fury of passion and grace that quickly and hilariously descends into hobbled flailing and spasms. Luckily, Jesus shows up to give her a hand. Continue reading
Lola von Miramar Presents
Cultura’s bilingual drag show gets political
Arno Mayorga
The show starts a little late, but that’s part of the charm—drag queens are never on time.
Noise before Music
Travis, the prolific performance artist, was born on September 23, 1946 in Itawamba County, Mississipi. Later that same week his mother left for St. Louis, leaving Travis with his grandmother—a woman who rarely spoke.
Toward Self-Determination
An interview with trans activist Monica James
With her work existing at the intersection of prison abolition and transgender rights, Monica James visited Geneva this month to address the United Nations Committee Against Torture on the criminalization of transgender women of color. There, she spoke alongside members of the Transformative Justice Law Project (TJLP) of Illinois, United States Human Rights Network, and the Women’s All Points Bulletin. Her trip was made possible through a crowdsourcing campaign that raised over five thousand dollars. James, herself a transgender woman and activist born and raised on the South and West Sides, works with the TJLP to help low-income and homeless transgender people access fair legal counsel and adequate healthcare. I met with Monica James to discuss her activism, her upbringing, and her trip to Geneva—her first time entering an airplane. Continue reading
Templehead’s Hallowed Halls
Rick Majewski
It’s a moody September evening at the Church of Templehead—clouds bruise the sky, and bursts of rain seem intent on ruining the party. Templehead, a DIY artists’ living space converted into a queer- and feminist-focused community venue, sits on the corner of 19th and Allport in Pilsen. It’s in a quiet pocket of the neighborhood, removed from 18th Street’s trickle of winers and diners. Tonight is JOSE FEST, a performance art festival named after Chicago-based artist Jose Hernandez and featuring an eclectic set of theatrical vignettes. Continue reading
Turn Down for Nothing
Sister Spit takes 2014’s final bow at Logan
There’s a warm glow in the eighth floor penthouse of the Logan Center for the Arts, despite the falling snow visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows. People pile in, vying for spaces in the front rows. Continue reading
An Animate Archive
Chase Joynt and Kristen Schilt populate the Gray Center with the past
Student Evan Hernandez leads a gallery tour. STEPHEN URCHICK
The boilerplate image for “#FOLLOWUS,” a collaborative multimedia installation on display at the University of Chicago’s Gray Center, is a still from the original short film “Urban Renewal.” Continue reading
Getting Vocal
A Hyde Park band places gender issues in the spotlight
Gene Cochrane and Kalil Smith-Nuevelle call themselves “gender politicians.” The two UofC students met last spring at a coffee shop where Cochrane was working, and quickly began friends and then bandmates. Now known as Slurp’s Up, the duo is more than eager to jump into discussions of radical gender politics with their newly released debut album, “Text Me When You Get This.” Continue reading
Five Years Out
Slow questions Paul's sexuality
COURTESY OF PAUL HOPKIN
Paul’s NOT Gay”—Slow Gallery’s latest show—was loosely conceived from a phone conversation between gallery proprietor Paul Hopkin and his father. Paul told his dad that he wasn’t seeing anyone, to which the older Hopkin replied, “Why do you bother telling everyone you’re gay if you aren’t having sex with men?” Continue reading