LGBTQ+

Providers and patients say finding gender inclusive health care in B-N could be easier — and there could be more of it.

Blair Broughton and Bethany Theobald planned to get married next year. The political climate prompted them to bump up the date — and a community-wide offer from the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bloomington helped make that possible.

Illinois is a haven for LGBTQ+ people, ensuring marriage equality and other protections. But some LGBTQ+ families worry about a potential rollback in protections by a new Trump administration and how that could affect them here or in other states.

WGLT talks to Brie Byers, a board-member-at-large for the ISU Queer Coalition, about the prospects of a second Trump administration. Transgender Day of Remembrance is Nov. 21.

In Bloomington-Normal, LGBTQ+ individuals and groups started banding together almost immediately after the Associated Press called the election Nov. 5. Groups such as Prairie Pride Coalition, Hope Church in Bloomington and The Bistro downtown are all opening their doors for people to convene.

Organizers hope to expand a social group for LGBTQ+ youth living in the McLean County area. Over the Rainbow launched in 2023, and now meets twice monthly.

The 1975 cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show will be screened with a live shadow cast and special guest Nell Campbell on Friday, Oct. 11, at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

Peoria author and sensei Joe Chianakas appears Saturday at Bobzbay Books in downtown Bloomington.

Jan Lancaster is part of the 2024 class of McLean County History Makers that will be celebrated at the annual History Makers' Gala on June 18

The life of a 16-year-old nonbinary student was remembered at a vigil in Normal on Wednesday night. Nex Benedict, who had been the victim of bullying, was involved in a fight in a school bathroom on Feb. 7, and the next day collapsed and was declared dead at the hospital.