A Greater Struggle

Our community faces unprecedented threats. As legislation restricting our liberties, marginalizing our voices, banning our artforms, and erasing our histories passes: organizations like PRIDEARTS serve as vital spaces for creatives and community members alike. Far more than just a theater, our stage is a sanctuary for gender and sexual minorities to tell the stories and showcase the artforms of those that identify as LGBTQIA2S+.

Just as we face challenges nationally, so too does our community close to home.

PRIDEARTS, located at 4139 N Broadway in Chicago has been burglarized. Potentially empowered by a rising tide of intolerance, or perhaps emboldened to disrespect our identities, our community theater has been attacked multiple times by burglars. Seeking to disrupt and destroy our work, nearly $30,000 worth of equipment, instruments, and art used to perform and create a queer cultural legacy was taken.

In the broader mosaic of national events, our loss might seem singular, isolated. But this violation isn't just about stolen items—it's emblematic of a concerted attempt to strip the LGBTQ+ community of its voice, its rights, and its history.

We have all been impacted, and for this year, we have chosen as the Theme of our work:

"Irrevocable"

At PrideArts we have a spectrum of events that celebrate our community's spirit. From gender non-conforming events, sapphic centered performances, cabaret evenings, pride parade events, and development of a youth program… all face jeopardy, not just from the burglaries, but from a growing societal mindset that questions our very existence.

Our Stand, Our United Fight

Consider the attacks on our trans and non-binary children or the murder of an ally, killed for flying our rainbow flag; we stand united in saying that our VOICES, our ART FORMS, our STORIES, indeed our very PERSONHOOD, will not be taken away.

This isn't just about one theater in one community and a group of vandals. It's about the national presence and the role that spaces like ours have in being part of a diverse and acnowledged history.

Today, Our Mission is Now Dual

To heal from material loss, ensuring our art continues undeterred
To stand firm against a hostile and growing national narrative, using our art as a voice of dissent and celebration

Your Support

Your involvement is more critical than ever:

Assist us in mending the financial losses to our scheduled events so they may progress seamlessly.
Strengthen our collective voice against the backdrop of increasing anti-LGBTQ sentiment, amplifying the importance of spaces like ours

In Gratitude

For your unwavering support you will:

Be added to our “Wall of Resistance”
Be included in our programs
Receive an invite to our ___________ event
Stay connected through regular updates and invites to our events

This isn't just about PrideArts. It's about every individual who's felt marginalized, every artist whose expression was stifled, every history that faced erasure. It's about a national dialogue and the role and support we give to spaces such ours in steering the narrative.

Join us. Contribute, advocate, and stand by our side as we not only restore our theater but also reclaim our community's safe and affirming places for generations to come.

Take a Seat + Make a Stand

Defend LGBTQIA+ Safe Spaces For Theater and Performing Arts