From the January-February 2022 issue of News & Letters

by Elise

Nobody’s Darling, the new Queer bar in Chicago owned and run by Lesbians of color Angela Barnes and Renaudo Riddle, is challenging racism and misogyny within Chicago’s Queer community. The bar is near the Northalsted neighborhood, formerly called Boystown, which for years has been noted for racism and misogyny (see “Queer Notes,” N&L March-April 2021, and “Expose demonization of Black Gay youth,” N&L, Sept.-Oct. 2011). Which is not to say that all of a sudden racism and misogyny within the LGBTQ+ community outside of Boystown suddenly magically disappears. Nobody’s Darling’s clientele includes people with a variety of sexual orientations, gender identities, races, genders and classes, monogamous and polyamorous.

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Rebecca Juro

Rebecca Juro, Trans journalist, radio host and advocate for Trans rights, died from a recurrence of lung cancer. She was 59. Media colleagues and Trans community members expressed their sadness and hailed her legacy. Juro contributed to periodicals, including The Advocate, Gay City News and the South Florida Gay News. She also launched an Internet radio show The Becky Juro Show and email blast Becky’s List where she wrote about Trans life and politics. Her mantra appropriately was, “the T is not silent.”

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Crowds cheered in Chile’s streets, waving Mapuche, Women’s Liberation and Pride flags, as their president-elect, progressive leftist Gabriel Boric, gave his acceptance speech. (See “Chile’s final break with Pinochet-ism?“) Boric overwhelmingly defeated misogynist and anti-LGBTQ conservative Jose Antonio Kast. In December, outgoing President Sebastián Piñera signed the same-sex marriage bill that recognizes same-sex parents and grants full spousal benefits and adoption rights.

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South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service prevailed in a lawsuit Gay man So Seong-wook brought, hoping for restoration of his spousal benefits on his partner Kim Yong-min’s employer’s health benefits. In early 2020, So was placed on the health plan, likely the first instance of an unmarried same-sex partner gaining that right. He was later removed from the plan after South Korea’s news media reported the story. South Korea, still, only recognizes marriage between one woman and one man. LGBTQ+ group Chingusai responded that the court showed through its cowardly decision that it just didn’t want to touch the issue. While homosexuality is not banned in South Korea, anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination is also not banned.