PRIDEChicago

City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago
2025-07-05 08:00 - 2026-05-31 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL, 60611
City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago is an intergenerational group exhibition that highlights Chicago’s essential, yet often underacknowledged, role in the story of queer art and activism. The exhibition examines this history from the mid-1980s, when activists radically mobilized in response to the US government’s disastrous handling of the AIDS crisis. In this moment of change, activists reclaimed the historically pejorative epithet “queer” as a liberatory term, encompassing all who purposefully deviate from heteronormative society. Drawn from the MCA’s collection and other local collections, City in a Garden follows this paradigm shift in LGBTQ+ history by bringing together work from over 30 artists and collectives working in Chicago from the 1980s to the present.
These artists address queerness through diverse media and methods: documenting clandestine queer spaces in photographs, creating sculptures that challenge normative depictions of gender and sexuality, and exploring queer intimacy through drawings, paintings, and videos. City in a Garden also features archival materials related to groups who innovatively combine artistic practices with their activism. The exhibition takes its title from Chicago’s official motto, Urbs in Horto, which translates to “city in a garden.” In the context of this presentation, this motto speaks to the exhibited artists’ and activists’ utopian visions of a metropolitan sanctuary for people of all races, genders, and sexualities. As queer people continue to fight for their lives and livelihoods under ongoing and renewed political threats, these visions remain as urgent today as ever.
City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago is curated by Jack Schneider, Assistant Curator, with Korina Hernandez, Curatorial Assistant.

Purple Tie Affair – Supporting E3 Radio
2025-10-04 08:00 - 17:00 | Sidetrack, 3349 N Halsted St, Chicago, Illinois, 60657
The Purple Tie Affair is an annual benefit that raises visibility and support for E3 Radio, while also giving back to a Chicago-based nonprofit that strengthens our community.
This year’s beneficiary is Taskforce Prevention and Community Services, an organization dedicated to improving the sexual health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ youth of color by providing safe spaces, fellowship, and community-driven solutions.
Your support of E3 Radio ensures that LGBTQ+ stories continue to be told, amplified, and celebrated in Chicago and beyond.

Taste of Northalsted 2025 – Fall
2025-10-04 13:00 - 17:00 | Northalsted Neighborhood, Northalsted on Halsted Street from Addison to Grace St.
Stroll through Northalsted on October 4th and indulge in a culinary adventure with the Fall Taste of Northalsted! Featuring over 20 locations, you’ll have the chance to savor selected dishes from the neighborhood’s top restaurants while visiting many of our other retail and service-based businesses to sample a variety of beers, spirits, and cocktails. Tickets are just $30 in advance, making it an affordable way to experience all that Northalsted has to offer.

Vogue for Good 2025 | Honoring Our History
2025-10-09 18:00 - 21:00 | Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL, 60644
The Category Is: Honoring Our History.
Don’t miss Vogue for Good, TaskForce’s signature benefit fundraiser celebrating 35 years of impact and the brilliance of Black LGBTQ+ legacy.
In honor of their 35th anniversary—and the 35th anniversary of the iconic film Paris Is Burning—this evening will uplift the movements, icons, and moments that shaped our community, and the enduring power of vogue as resistance, expression, and joy.
Come dressed in your finest fashions that pay tribute to the style, courage, and culture of Black LGBTQ+ communities—past and present.
Through electrifying performances, heartfelt youth reflections, and a celebration of this year’s TaskForce Legacy Award recipients, Vogue for Good invites you to reflect, honor, and invest in the future of LGBTQ+ youth on Chicago’s West Side and beyond.
Your ticket directly supports free health and wellness services, leadership programs, and community spaces for LGBTQ+ youth—and helps keep TaskForce a home where young people are seen, supported, and celebrated.

Howard Brown: Work It, Girl
2025-10-11 18:00 - 23:00 | Park West, 322 W Armitage Ave, Chicago, IL, 60614
WIG is Howard Brown Health’s bold new Vegas-style drag revue—and a reimagining of the beloved Who’s That Girlfundraiser. This year’s theme, Legacy of Love: Decades of Defiance, takes audiences across five decades of queer resilience, joy, and advocacy—all while raising vital funds to support LGBTQ+ care and health equity.
This year’s WIG is dedicated to the legendary Chilli Pepper—a fearless trailblazer who lit up stages and broke barriers by speaking out about HIV/AIDS when few dared.

Network for Equality — Equality Illinois
2025-10-21 17:00 - 19:00 | Molson Coors Headquarters, 320 S Canal St, Chicago, IL, 60606
Equality Illinois announces Network for Equality—the premier LGBTQ+ networking event—on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. This signature gathering brings LGBTQ+ people and allies together to connect with top business leaders, strengthen relationships, and build community. It’s a perfect opportunity to invite colleagues, neighbors, and friends to a fun, celebratory evening benefiting Equality Illinois’ pro-LGBTQ+ civil rights work.
