Gerber Hart Library and Archives

Halfway through Pride Month, and we’re still going strong!
Here’s where you can find Ge**er/Hart this upcoming week -
Tomorrow’s free screening of Starrbooty is at capacity! But don’t worry, we’ll be planning more LGBTQ+ film screenings soon!
Saturday, join AforAce at Ace Book Club at 1 PM where they’ll be chatting about Michael Paramo’s Ending the Pursuit: Asexuality, Aromanticism, & Agender Identity
Also Saturday! Join Speak Des Plaines at Trinity Lutheran Church in Des Plains for the 5th Annual Des Plaines Community Pride Celebration! We’ll be there with materials from our collections at Ge**er/Hart.
On Sunday June 21st, stop by the Hungry Brain for an evening of Q***r Poetry featuring readings by Riley Yaxley, Mar Romasco-Moore, and Fez Avery
Next week - on Wednesday June 24th we’ll be hosting an author talk with Owen Keehnen about his new book, A Place for Us: Gay Life at Chicago’s Belmont Rocks.
And stay tuned for more later this month! You can find a display of materials at the staged reading of Sisters: Some Theatrical Rituals About the Nunnery at United Church of Rogers , at the Chicago D**e March on Saturday June 27th, and at the Chicago Pride Parade on Sunday June 28th!
.play.chicago

Love this article from Windy City Times featuring our friend Gary Chichester and the history of Pride in Chicago! We're proud to have materials from Gary in our archives at Ge**er/Hart.

‘We wanted to be seen’ : Gary Chichester preserves legacy of Chicago’s first Pride rally and parade - Windy City Times Gary Chichester’s name is on the permit for the first official Pride Parade in the world, which took place in Chicago in June 1971. He and his homemade flag haven’t missed a Pride Parade since. “It’s my favorite holiday,” Chichester said. “People are so incredibly free and happy to be fr...

Add Ace Book Club to your Pride Month plans! This Saturday, June 20, we’ll be discussing Michael Paramo’s 𝘌𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵: 𝘈𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘈𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮 & 𝘈𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺. The blend of memoir and poetry, online articles and discussions, traces the emergence of online communities to the Victorian binaries that still restrict us today, and gives a voice to an often-misunderstood community.

We hope you'll join us in person or virtually on June 20!!

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻
𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟬, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
𝟭:𝟬𝟬–𝟮:𝟬𝟬 𝗽.𝗺. 𝗖𝗧

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲
𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗿/𝗛𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗥𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆/𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺
𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 (link will be provided after RSVPing)

Hosted By
AforAce Chicago and Ge**er/Hart Library

RSVP here: https://forms.gle/FuhZQYq4ENHjzhgg6 ***rarchives

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to attend a FREE 18+ secret screening of Starrbooty The Movie at Ge**er/Hart next Wednesday at 6 PM!

Who is Starrbooty? She’s a model, a fierce secret agent, and the alter ego of superstar RuPaul. Originating in the early 1980s as a series of lofi-no budget mini-films sold on VHS tapes outside of clubs in Atlanta, the character of Starrbooty would eventually merit RuPaul’s first full-length film, Starrbooty The Movie, premiering at film festivals like Chicago’s own historic LGBTQ+ Reeling Festival in 2007.

Join Ge**er Hart for a free screening of this lost film – a DVD copy that is a permanent part of the library catalog. The film screening is free, but donations are welcome to support Ge**er/Hart’s public and accessible q***r programming!

18+ only due to the adult content of the film. Seating is limited, so RSVP soon! Find the link in the comments below. ***rHistory

Join us on Wednesday, June 24th, at 6:30 PM for an author talk with Owen Keehnen discussing his new book, A Place for Us: Gay Life at Chicago’s Belmont Rocks. Free and open to all, we will have an open Q&A with the audience and author following the discussion.

Copies of the book will be available, and Owen will be signing copies after the event. Join us to learn about this important and beautiful part of Chicago LGBTQ+ history! ***rHistory ***rarchives ***rbooks

Can't make the event at Dorothy tonight, but curious to know more about The lgbtq+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project?

Take a listen to the WBEZ feature episode here! https://www.wbez.org/in-the-loop-with-sasha-ann-simons/2026/06/09/q***r-elders-reflect-on-lgbtq-pride-and-intergenerational-connections-in-2026
***relderhistorypanel ***rhistory ***rarchives

Update! The weather forecast for tonight is not looking so great,
so we're closing out of caution and consideration for volunteer and patron safety. ⛈️ ☔️

We'll still be open during our regular hours tomorrow and Saturday! For now, check out the full month of programming we have going on this month at Ge**er/Hart in the link below!

***rlibrary

It’s ! Every Thursday in June, we’ll spotlight one of the amazing resources at Ge**er/Hart that your donations support.

Today’s spotlight: The Library! Containing over 28,000 materials, Ge**er/Hart is the largest LGBTQ+ lending library in the Midwest. Fiction, history, poetry, plays (like Angels in America, as pictured being held by our volunteer Alex) music, movies – and a young adult section filled with all those books some people want to ban. Your donations ensure we can pay the rent, utilities, staff, and everything else to keep the library free and open to the public.

Please give a one-time donation at gerberhart.org/donatenow, OR make it a monthly donation and receive a limited edition collectible Ge**er/Hart Library Card! Help us raise $20,000 for PRIDE! Now through June 30, total donations of up to $5,000 will be matched by one of our long-time supporters. Please help us exceed the match, and keep Ge**er/Hart an independent resource for our LGBTQ+ communities all year!

Join us at Nobody's Darling this Saturday at 4 PM for a conversation about Black Q***r spaces in Chicago to celebrate the release of The Le***an Bar Chronicles!

Panelists include Angela Barnes of Nobody's Darling and Darius Caffey. Ge**er/Hart will be tabling with materials related to Black Q***r Chicago spaces from our library, special collections, and archive.

RSVP at the link in our comments, and we'll see you at Nobody's Darling on Saturday! ***rarchives

TONIGHT! Join us this Wednesday, June 10 from 6 PM - 8 PM for Q***r Stitch Night as we celebrate it’s one year of community programming!

�This Thursday, June 11th we'll be at for the Q***r Elder History Panel at Dorothy with

Upcoming this weekend! Saturday, June 13 from 1 PM - 2 PM We'll be at participating in the Play Reading Club. This month we'll be acting The Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel.

Saturday, June 13 from 4 PM for the Pop Up Book Tour with The Le***an Bar Chronicles at Nobody's Darling (Find more information through the link in our bio!) Ge**er/Hart will be tabling with materials related to Black Q***r Chicago spaces from our library, special collections, and archive.

Wednesday, June 17th, from 6-9 PM join us at Ge**er/Hart for a screening of Starrbooty (2007)! Starrbooty is sexy, sassy and salacious. The film screening is free, but donations are welcome to support Ge**er/Hart’s public and accessible q***r programming!
Saturday, June 20th from 1 - 3 PM Ace Book Club (in the Ge**er/Hart Community Room)

Save this post, share it with your friends, and help us spread the word!
Most of our events are free, but we do have a couple of ticketed events coming up - attending events, buying a ticket, and helping spread the word are all wonderful ways to help support Ge**er/Hart this month! ***rarchive