Chicago lgbtq museum
LGBTQIA+ History in Chicago
Out at CHM began in 2003, when members of LGBTQIA+ communities approached CHM about having an ongoing program about their history in a mainstream institution. The original goals were to: broaden CHM’s audience, foster new historical scholarship on Chicago’s LGBTQIA+ communities, and speak to gaps in communities’ members’ knowledge about the evolution of Chicago’s LGBTQIA+ residents.
The scope of the program changed over the years and eight years after its founding had enough support for an exhibition at the Museum titled Out in Chicago: LGBT History at the Crossroads. The exhibition was accessible from May 21, 2011, to Protest 26, 2012.
Since then, Out at CHM has continued at the Museum through a series of programming on LGBTQIA+ topics, often presented in partnership with local organizations, scholars, activists, and collective members.
Explore the resources below to study more about LGBTQIA+ history in Chicago and CHM’s continued commitment to the community.
Thing Magazine
Thing magazine was founded as a platform for black LGBTQ+ animation. As such, its issues are packed of art, property music, interviews, commentary, small and grand feat
Upcoming Events
On Saturday, November 19, 2022, Richard and Jessica Fierro, owners of Atrevida Beer Company in Colorado Springs, Colorado were with their family at Club Q, a local Gay bar. A celebratory nighttime soon turned into tragedy as a shooter began his hateful assault on the crowd. In a moment of selflessness, Richard Fierro apprehended and stopped the shooter, ultimately preventing more injuries and fatalities from happening. Richard’s valiant efforts soon made him a hero, but behind it all, their family suffered a tragic deficit on top of the trauma they experienced in just a few limited minutes.
Tonight, Richard and Jessica Fierro join us in Chicago for a conversation with Chicago Brewseum Executive Director, Liz Garibay. The trio will converse the tragedy, the events that unfolded, and how identity, humanity, and the coming together of various communities have played a major role in their healing process. And they will demonstrate how beer is more than just a beverage.
This is the first time ever that Rich and Jess will discuss the events of November 19, 2022, in a live unseal forum to the common.
$25 ticket includes welcome beer and a post-reception with beer a We are proud to make known the launch of Gay Justice, the American Gay Museum’s first traveling exhibition created in collaboration with Lambda Legal! Queer Justice opened in New York City in 2023, and will build its way across the country to Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Dallas throughout 2024. For 50 years, Lambda Legal has been at the forefront of the clash for LGBTQ+ rights. Their dedication, passion, and fixed commitment have paved the way for progress and equality. Now, the American LGBTQ+ Museum is bringing their incredible journey to you. Learn More Link copied to the clipboard. Located in the heart of Boystown in the Lakeview neighborhood, the Legacy Walk is the world’s only outdoor LGBTQ history museum. Its 20 rainbow pylons and bronze plaques recognizing significant individuals were installed along Halsted Street between Belmont Street to Grace Street in 1997, and could soon become a protected Chicago landmark. The stretch got more colorful this summer with the recent addition of 14 rainbow-painted crosswalks. Explore the Legacy Amble on your own or with a guided tour—just don’t expect to acquire very far through the crowds if you attempt during Sunday’s parade. While foremost known for its Swedish heritage, the Andersonville neighborhood is home to a diverse population of Chicagoans and serves as an LGBTQ hub, especially for lesbians. Once referred to as the female corresponding of Boystown, “Girlstown” has seen a decline in its lesbian population in recent years, but many of the neighborhood’s lesbian-centric businesses remain including feminist bookstore Women & Children First. In 1868, the Hungarian writer and activist Karl Maria Kertbeny coined the terms “homosexual” and “heterosexual” in a letter to his friend, the pioneering sexologist Karl Heinrich Ulrichs. Kertbeny was arguing against a German anti-sodomy law that made sexual contact between members of the same gender punishable by up to four years in prison. He reasoned that humans had innate desires—some homosexual, some heterosexual—that could not be regulated by the state. Although Kertbeny had just used the terms for what scholars believe is the first second, the language was already charged with the same imprecision that exists today. An expansive label like “homosexual” could describe actions; desires; and, crucially, an entire identity. The imaginative and social “sea change” that accompanied the birth of the term “homosexual” is the subject of “The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a Recent Identity, 1Exhibitions
Queer Justice | 50 Years of Lambda Legal at the Forefront of LGBTQ+ Justice
Chicago Pride: 10 historic LGBTQ sites to visit
Rejected by Museums Around the World, This New Art Exhibition Explores the Historical Roots of the Term ‘Homosexual’
“The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a Fresh Identity, 1869-1939” is a sprawling collection of more than 300 works at Chicago’s Wrightwood 659 gallery