The Advocacy Council for Human Rights

Was your June so busy that you didn’t have an opportunity to participate in many of the annual pride events scheduled in central Illinois and the larger, nearby metro areas? Never, fear, the coming months will provide you with many additional opportunities to enjoy that summer fun that the LGBT community is so famous for. Read more »

The organizing committee for the Oct. 7-10 Your Normal LGBT Film Festival continues to work toward making the inaugural festival a big success. There are many aspects of the festival planning that seem daunting but our committee is confident that this will be the first of many festivals to come. Read more »

On May 27, Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson joined 233 other members of Congress in passing the Murphy Amendment, the measure that calls for the Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT).”

The amendment is part of a larger military budget bill that now goes to the U.S. Senate where it faces a more uncertain future. Read more »

After our June issue went to press we received word that Ruth & Tana, longtime citizens/activists in our community, recently celebrated 30 years of sharing, bitching, living, laughing, loving, and enjoying each other.

Many of you will remember these two special people as the owners/operators of Once Upon a Time Books And Gifts, the LGBT bookstore and gift shop in downtown Bloomington. Their business and its goal to provide a service to the community helped make BloNo a more welcoming place for LGBT people and is still missed to this day.

Congratulations to this very special couple on their milestone!

by Gene Naden
rainbowactivist@gmail.com

Donny, you were my first friend, my best friend, my only friend.
We made up stories and acted them out.
Inspired by Gunsmoke, The Rifleman and Rawhide.

I stayed overnight most weekends.
In the big double bed upstairs.

You discovered Little League baseball.
I tried it.
It didn’t interest me.
I would rather be making out.
Or just acting

Then you started talking about girls.
What was this?
I was mystified.
I had no interest in them.

We drifted apart. It hurt.
I realized I had lost you.
There was no one I could tell,
Nowhere I could go.

One day I took a long walk in the forest
Then a long hot bath.
I cried in the tub.
No one asked why.
No one asked why.
Why.

Still a boy, I silently swore I would forget.
Forget what it felt like.
To sleep with Donnie.

I never did.

A new youth project aimed at GLBTQ young people between the ages of 14 and 23 is coming to Bloomington/Normal.

The Me, Myself & I Youth Project is dedicated to educating and empowering Bloomington-Normal’s GLBTQ youth and their straight allies in a safe and diverse environment. Read more »

The Open Worship Church of Hope, Bloomington/Normal’s newest LGBT-affirmative place of worship, is sponsoring a GAAAP Rally at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 17 at the church, 1702 W. College Ave., Suite A-2, in Normal. Read more »

The Bistro, 316 N. Main St. in downtown Bloomington, is planning a July full of fun events ranging from bingo to karaoke to a talent night.

The month kicks off with Read more »

The McLean County AIDS Task Force AIDS Walk/Run on May 15 raised more than $1,700 for client services at the task force.

The task force fundraising committee would like to thank everyone who participated, sponsored a walker/runner, and donated items.

The task force will continue its fundraising with future events including an Artists Against AIDS fundraiser and the annual Dining Out with Friends fundraiser. For more information contact the task force at 309-827-2437 or check out the task force web site at www.mcatf.org.

June 27th is National HIV Testing Day. More than 1 million Americans are living with HIV and approximately 25% (252,000 people) have no idea they are HIV positive.

In an effort for our community to know their HIV status,  McLean County Health Department will be offering free and confidential HIV tests on Friday, June 25th and Monday June 28th , 9am-4pm both days. No appointment necessary. Please call 888-5435 for any questions or further information. Take the Test. Take Control.

The ACHR site has been redone with new features so that we can get information to you in a more timely manner.  Also, you can search the archives for articles by keywords, by month, or by category.

Please e-mail the webmaster if you encounter any problems.