Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ People celebrates Pride Month
The Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ People is celebrating Pride Month in June, including the annual Pride Picnic on June 10 at UIC.
Pride Month commemorates the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in New York City on June 28, 1969. At a time when police raids on LGBTQ+ bars were common, the patrons at the Stonewall Inn and other bars fought back when the police became violent. Transgender activists, like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, were at the forefront of the fight. The Stonewall Rebellion sparked national activism and is considered the catalyst for advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights in the United States.
Pride Month honors the diversity of LGBTQ+ people and provides opportunities for the community and allies to come together. Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community held its first annual Gay Liberation March on June 27, 1970. This march, which came to be known as the Pride Parade, encouraged people to fight homophobia and transphobia, to come out and raise awareness of the issues and injustices facing the community. Throughout this month and beyond, we should all work to promote equity and justice for all LGBTQ+ people.
The Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ People reports that the ACLU is currently tracking 530 anti-LGBTQ+ bills at the federal and state level, with 23 of them being in Illinois. Some lawmakers have introduced legislation affecting transgender rights through measures related to transgender members of the military, participation of transgender individuals in sports and access to gender-affirming healthcare. The Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ People plays a particularly important role as the principal voice of LGBTQ+ people at UIC. Alongside the Gender and Sexuality Center, we offer spaces for our members to come together, support each other and lift each other up.
In collaboration, the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ and the Gender and Sexuality Center will host this year’s UIC Pride Picnic on Wednesday, June 10, from noon to 2 p.m. on the lawn outside of the Behavioral Sciences Building. We will be celebrating our 2026 graduates during the picnic this year. That evening, join the UIC Social Justice Initiative and the Gender and Sexuality Center for a Pride Month double feature film screening of “Happy Birthday, Marsha!” and “Intentionally Erased.” In addition to the picnic and film night, some Pride events throughout the city of Chicago include:
- Andersonville Midsommarfest: June 12-14
- UIC Pride Picnic: June 10, noon-2 p.m.
- UIC Pride Month Double Feature: June 10, 6-8:30 p.m.
- Chicago Pride Fest: June 20-21
- Chicago Pride Parade: June 28
- Pride South Side: July 5
The Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ People encourages all UIC community members to learn more about LGBTQ+ persons. We reinforce our commitment to greater inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals at UIC with the following resources:
- UIC Gender and Sexuality Center
- The Gender and Sexuality Center is a cultural center serving the University of Illinois Chicago’s LGBTQIA+ students, faculty and staff. Through the production, curation and preservation of intersectional LGBTQIA+ cultures, we aim to inspire critical thinking, learning and action on campus and beyond.
- UIC Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ People
- Established in 1991, the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ People’s mission is to promote the academic, cultural, professional and social welfare of the LGBTQ+ community at the University of Illinois Chicago.
- Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence Pronoun Usage
- UI Health LGBTQ+ Inclusive Care
- Bias Reporting and Prevention
- All-Gender Restrooms
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