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I think a lot of people care about this community a lot.

“Cabaret Sundays are going to be a really cool, unique sector of drag,” Maggi said. There’s a lot of queer people here who really, really are invested.

But you know, we don’t have a queer space, I would say.

I’ll tell you what, in the early ’90s, 2000s, there weren’t any dating sites.

It’s very easy to feel it there.

I personally would go a lot to a queer bar. They interviewed community stakeholders, including business owners, and LGBTQ community members.

Billington told IPM’s Owen Henderson how the lack of establishments forces members of the queer community really examine which places are safe spaces.

HENDERSON: What have you learned from your research into LGBTQ community spaces?

BILLINGTON: And almost every realm of research, I’ve been a part of that has to do with LGBTQ+ people, the visible queer spaces are important and valued.

Particularly in non-metropolitan areas, there’s a lack of it.

gay bar champaign il

It is also a city full of walkable streets and friendly neighborhoods, and no shortage of friendly people, including a vibrant LGBTQ community. “It really set the tone for what we want to do with the rest of the year.”

The management team at Anthem said they have many events in store for the new year. “It’s not just a lounge or a dance club.

Maybe I could.’

But it’s that ambiguity, really, that is the true like source of distress of constantly trying to determine, ‘Is this a space I’m going to be accepted in?’

HENDERSON: What’s your own personal experience as a queer person been like here in Champaign-Urbana?

BILLINGTON: I think that kind of go in and out of feeling, a sense of community, you know.

“So now it’s like, we need something that’s gonna give us a little bit of everything.”

However, until more of the business plans are finalized, he says that he and the others are keeping things like their future name and location under wraps, especially after a recent queer skate night was canceled when organizers were threatened.

Still, Brown says he’s excited to hopefully make a difference for other members of the LGBTQ community in central Illinois.

“Just to be able to give people something like that and be able to contribute to the queer community in a way I’ve never thought I would ever be able to, is something so just mind-blowing and awesome to me,” he said.

And if all goes well, the group hopes to be open for business next June, just in time for Pride month.

Former bartender remembers C Street’s heyday

According to research from Oberlin College, the United States has lost around half of its LGBTQ bars over the past 20 years.

“It’ll be a big weekend event of our Gold Party, our Oscars drag show and the Oscars party as well.”

Hurley relayed that the turnout of Anthem’s New Year’s party was incredible. It’s the perfect place to enjoy a beautiful day in Champaign.

Hessel Park

Hessel Park is a beautiful park located in the center of the city.

Wednesday was half price night. Weekly staple events are being integrated into their calendar, such as Cabaret Sundays and live performances on Wednesdays. And then Friday was top 40. It’s kind of like a sigh of relief.”

Brown and his group are planning to open a space that can function as an all-ages cafe during the day with a secondary room that can be converted to a dance floor and bar in the evenings or even rearranged into a place for board game nights.

“We went from like five gay bars being open at once to zero in a matter of years,” he said.

The establishment of the Illinois Industrial University in 1867, which later became the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, impacted the growth and character of both cities. Contact a  Champaign gay realtor today for a free, no-obligation consultation!

Anthem creates space for queer CU nightlife

For the first time since 2017, Champaign welcomed Anthem, a new LGBTQ+ bar, to the city’s variety of nightlife opportunities in November.

The permanent closure of Champaign’s one and only queer nightclub in 2017, Chester Street Bar, took away a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community.

After nearly 40 years of business, many members of the queer community in Champaign suffered the loss of their beloved watering hole.

Affectionately nicknamed “C-Street” by its regular attendees, the bar was founded in 1978 originally under the name “theBar.” The original name became a code word for queer people, particularly gay men, to identify and rendezvous together, according to the C-Street website.

A transfer of ownership in 1985 resulted in its renaming, but the club maintained its status as “the premiere nightlife destination for LGBTQ residents and visitors, as well as University of Illinois students,” according to its website.

Located at 320 N.

Neil St., Anthem’s management said they are excited to reintroduce an inclusive space to Champaign. “Losing all that was really devastating, so Michael giving me the opportunity to lead with him has been really wonderful.”

Both Hurley and Maggi spoke to the importance of queer spaces when they came out. Some of the parents that we were talking to were like, ‘I have one store that I go to, because I know that I won’t be harassed or my kids won’t be harassed there.

It’s easy for these businesses or whatever to be allies during Pride.