The lgbtq+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project

Two more days until Community Dinner & Dialogue in partnership with Pride Chicago!

Introducing our fourth storyteller ❤️

Holly Davis, 66, is a former Activity Director and Educator. Now she's a professional Artist ! Holly creates oil on canvas masterpieces to help raise funds for the Artemis Le***an/ Feminist Chorus. She has been a proud member of the Artemis Le***an Feminist Chorus for over 6 years. Holly is a First soprano and, on occasions, lead soloist on some songs. She enjoys singing with some of the most kind and generous people you'll ever meet (one big happy family) and considers all of the younger members her children. The chorus will be singing the National anthem at the White Sox Pride Day in June, and will be reveling in their family bond!

Photo by .patrick.krueger 😘

Introducing the third of our four featured storytellers for next week's Community Dinner & Dialogue about LGBTQ+ Pride and parades, marches, and protests in partnership with Pride Chicago!

Katia Klemm, 27, is a Filipino-Panamanian nonbinary d**e from Florida. They are a member of the 8-person team behind the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project (IDP) responsible for program management, dialogue facilitation, research interviews, archiving, and curating the project’s annual public art exhibitions. They also co-host Coffee House, a bi-weekly q***r potluck and open mic. They presented their work cataloging the IDP exhibition archives at Gerber/Hart Library & Archives Q***r History symposium, and are writing a thesis on the role of networks behind q***r affinity groups such as the IDP while serving as Archiving Lead for What Will Have Been Ours, an intergenerational open studio art project exploring q***r American identity. They are a lover and a fighter, and they have a guilty love for glitter and the dance floor one hour before the lights come on.

Can't wait!!

Photo by .patrick.krueger 🔥

Only 20 tickets left for our May 27th Community Dinner & Dialogue: Stories of Pride!! Grab 'em now!! (Link in comments).

We are thrilled to introduce the second of our featured storytellers for this event.

John D’Emilio, 76, (He/Him) is a pioneer in the field of LGBTQ studies and the history of sexuality, and Emeritus Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies and History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is the author or editor of almost a dozen books including Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940-1970; Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin; and Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America, co-authored with Estelle B. Freedman and now in its third edition.

His awards include the Brudner Prize from Yale for lifetime contributions to gay and le***an studies; the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Publishing Triangle, an organization of LGBTQ people in publishing; and the Roy Rosenzweig Distinguished Service Award of the Organization of American Historians. His biography of Bayard Rustin was a finalist for the National Book Award.

The founding director of the Policy Institute of the National LGBTQ Task Force, he has also served as President of the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives in Chicago, and wrote a book on Chicago LGBTQ history - Q***r Legacies: Stories from Chicago’s LGBTQ Archives. His most recent book is Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood: Coming of Age in the Sixties, a memoir published by Duke University Press.

Photo by Ryan Krueger

It's happening!! This event has sold out in advance for the last three years! Ticket link is live. (Link in the comments).

Gerber/Hart Library & Archives and the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project are partnering to bring the younger and older generations together in dialogue about q***rness over time.

Join us for a panel discussion with Betty Akins, Jay Myers, Jocye Fernandes, and Norma Seledon, four incredible LGBTQ+ elders, moderated by Dialogue Project co-founder Karen Morris and hosted by Gerber/Hart volunteer Kaitlyn Griffith.

The panel will be accompanied by a pop-up display of materials from Gerber/Hart's LGBTQ+ library & archives and followed by Q&A & mingling. Celebrate Pride in community with our elders at Dorothy!

Doors at 6pm and our panel kicks off at 7pm. Dorothy remains open after the event until 11pm.

Tickets are priced on a sliding scale of $15, $20 and $25 and proceeds are shared with our panelists, Gerber/Hart and our lounge. If tickets are available, they will be $25 at the door.

Dorothy is 21+ and requires physical ID for all to enter. Dorothy is also ADA accessible with elevator access on Campbell Ave. If you are a guest who requires elevator access, please wait by the black door with our logo in the window and call our staff to assist: 773-770-3799

Introducing the first of our featured storytellers for next week's Community Dinner & Dialogue about LGBTQ+ Pride and parades, marches, and protests in partnership with Pride Chicago!

Clau Rocha, 28, is an interdisciplinary artist, divinatory practitioner, and library professional based in Chicago, IL. Their hybrid research-studio practice centers on exploring archival materials, Latiné mythologies, and q***r histories, often layering institutional and folk aesthetics to uncover interconnected narratives.

Clau has exhibited regionally in galleries such as CoProsperity, Agitator Gallery, and Pilsen Arts & Community House, and has been independently published across the USA, including in Push/Pull’s Stanza: Nonbinary Anthology and ATX Gallery’s Mujer Manifesto. They are an upcoming resident in Pocoapoco’s Sur o No Sur artist residency in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Photo credit:

All are welcome! RSVP to let us know you're coming! Link here & in the comments: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-dialogue-stories-of-pride-tickets-1986245137675

Looking back at the June 3rd dynamic conversation between iconic artists Diana Solis and Patric McCoy, moderator Korina Hernandez, and the amazing folks who attended. Huge thanks Court Theater and Blanc Gallery. Photo credits to Percy Ollie of Ollie Photography & Molly Fulop.

Join us for a free community dinner & dialogue about LGBTQ+ Pride and parades, marches, and protests in partnership with Pride Chicago!

Held in connection with the 2026 Chicago Pride Parade, this public gathering fosters storytelling, reflection, and exchange across generations to cultivate community, connection, and pride.

This free event will take place on Wednesday, May 27th, at the Hooper Leven Theater at the Center on Halsted (3rd floor).

Join us for dinner at 5:00 pm. The community dialogue will begin at 5:30 pm.

The community dialogue will feature 4 storytellers from The Dialogue Project who will share key experiences with LGBTQ+ Pride Parades and the importance of being free to be proud! After these stories, we will break into small groups to dialogue and hear from one another.

All are welcome! RSVP to let us know you're coming! Link here & in the comments: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-dialogue-stories-of-pride-tickets-1986245137675

Artwork in the event banner made by participants of The LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project.

Last weekend's post-show discussion “We Are Still Becoming: Stories of Family, Change, and Q***r Lives" was heart-warming and a ton of fun. Thank you to Court Theater for premiering an original musical centered around q***r experiences, and partnering with us. Thank you to Phyllis, Georgia, and Casey for sharing your stories, perspectives, and joy. Thank you to all of the audience members who asked awesome questions and shared their own stories. We had a great dialogue around identity labels, gender and sexuality, family dynamics,and the importance of intergenerational q***r relationships.

Enjoy these photos taken by our very own Molly Fullop!

🌈

We are sooo excited for this!

On Sunday, May 3 at Blanc Gallery, photographers Diana Solís and Patric McCoy will be in conversation about their decades-long work documenting Chicago’s q***r histories—from Solís’s powerful images of Latinx, feminist, and LGBTQ+ movements in Pilsen to McCoy’s iconic portraits of Black gay life captured during his 1980s bike rides across the city. Chicago-based curator Korina Hernandez will be moderating.

🎟 Reservations strongly encouraged https://tickets.courttheatre.org/Online/seatSelect.asp?createBO::WSmap=1&BOparam::WSmap::loadBestAvailable::performance_ids=799C5E25-3663-4DDA-8027-7346A53B9BBF

Fun fact: Diana, Patric, and Korina are valued alumni of the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project.

Photo credits:
Photo of Diana - Maira Ochoa
Photo of Patric - Jerry Nunn
Photo of Korina - Gemma Kim

Join us on Saturday at Court Theater for the 2:30 show of Out Here followed by a post-show discussion hosted by Phyllis Johnson with panelists Georgia Lacy and Casey Wheeler. Phyllis, Casey, and Georgia will reflect on the ways their own life experiences connect with themes in the play, and then open up the dialogue to those in the audience. Tickets for the show start at $22, while the post-show dialogue is free and one to all.
https://tickets.courttheatre.org/Online/mapSelect.asp

We're excited to be collaborating with for the next installment of the Agora Series for events on April 25 & May 3.

"We Are Still Becoming: Stories of Family, Change, and Q***r Lives" is a two-part conversation series connecting themes in the new original musical "Out Here" with lived experiences of Chicagoans today.

Read more & get your tickets: https://www.courttheatre.org/season-tickets/2025-2026-season/we-are-still-becoming/