The significance of LGBTQ spaces in a challenging political climate
Flags representing different LGBTQIA+ communities were featured during Urbana Pride in 2024. Reginald Hardwick/Illinois Public Media
For decades, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people have found spaces to meet connect, and find community with one another ... or made their own spaces.
Support for the LGBTQ community has gone up significantly, though there are lingering questions about how much that's changing under the second Trump administration. In recent years, corporations have even taken part in Pride events, but some of that support has dissipated in the current political environment.
LGBTQ people have still been carving out their own spaces. The gay bar lives on, though it's less prominent than it's been in decades past. Other kinds of businesses by and for the community have sprung up too. Business owners who offer safe spaces to their local LGBTQ communities join the conversation.
GUESTS
Jan Lancaster
Owner, The Bistro
Jessica Stephenson
Owner, Lit. on Fire Books
Dakota Thomas-Wilhelm
Co-owner, Good Judys Espresso and Bagel Bar