Prairie Pride Coalition

Planned Parenthood of Illinois hosted a storytelling celebration Saturday in honor of Transgender Day of Visibility 2025. The event featured stories and art from the Bloomington-Normal transgender community and beyond.

Jazz UpFront will host the opening reception for the touring Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library exhibit The Harlem Renaissance: As Gay as it was Black.

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 Normal Town Council on Monday approved new language in its Human Relations Code, adding gender identity as a protected class and expanding the definitions of sexual orientation and race.

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

District 87 school board president Elizabeth Fox Anvick wears many hats: She’s a tech professional, a wife, a mother – and one of Bloomington-Normal’s most visible LGBTQ+ advocates.

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.

The LGBTQ+ community in Bloomington-Normal was loud, proud, and happy during Pride Fest on July 29 in downtown Bloomington. Attendees said the annual cornerstone event that draws thousands is important both to the LGBTQ community and to all of central Illinois.

LGBTQ transplants moving to Bloomington-Normal from a large city may feel a bit of a culture shock. We talked to two about navigating the Twin Cities' queer community.