The meningitis strain found in gay men in New York City and Los Angeles has now been reported in Chicago, according to health officials there. 

Details follow. 

Today, Linda Johnson Rice, the publisher of the African-American targeted Ebony and Jet magazines, made her case for marriage equality in the Chicago Tribune.

Check out her powerful op-ed after the jump!

It's always a question of who ends up on top when it comes to Grindr, so having the gay geo-social app host a "best of" awards totally made sense. Grindr tasked some of its 4.5 million worldwide users with the job of naming the top pop- and local-culture items from 2012. Given that these are some of the pickiest gays on the planet, the winners should be very illuminating!

Find out which celebrities, TV shows, athletes, bars, clubs, parties, salons, gyms, bartenders and more were favored by Grindr users after the jump!

While Illinois lawmakers in support of marriage equality are now saying they'll wait until Wednesday's new session of the General Assembly to try to legalize same-sex marriage, more than 200 protesters gathered in Chicago on Saturday to try to push marriage equality through in the lame duck session. 

Details after the jump.

While some groups are questioning the decision to wait on the Illinois marriage equality vote until the next session of the state's General Assembly rather than the current lame duck sssion, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel remains confident that the legislation will pass.

More after the jump.

On the high heels of Jesse Tyler-Ferguson, Justin Mikita and President Obama, the Chicago Tribune has whole-heartedly endorsed marriage equality in Illinois. The support couldn't have benn better timed; as opponents to the legislation stalled a vote in the General Assembly on Wednesday, the bill's supporters are prepared to get the votes at any point today. 

Illinois could become the tenth state to provide its same-sex couples equal access to marriage rights as soon as this month. But not if Cardinal Francis George has anything to do with it. 

Much momentum has been gained for the marriage equality movement in Illinois this month, momentum that's taken even further by the formation of a new unified group of LGBT advocates and allies, Illinois Unites. The new group will play a key role in gaining support for marriage equality (likely to come up in a matter of weeks in the state legislature) and securing the passage of rights for same-sex couples in Illinois. Details follow.

Illinois could join 10 other marriage equality jurisdictions sooner than expected as news breaks that a vote on equal marriage rights has been moved to January. Though earlier defined as an unlikely scenario due to a hostile environment, odds for a successful marriage equality vote next month have apparently fallen in our favor. 

Could Illinois be the next state to pass marriage equality?

If Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has anything to do with it, it will be!

Mayor Emanuel gave a press conference today on his legislative priorities and legalizing same-sex marriage in the state is right at the top. 

Emanuel says, "The time is now."

Watch after the jump!

As if our fireman fantasies needed anymore fuel added to the, well, fire, Chicago Fire has to come along and parade Taylor Kinney and Jesse Spencer shirtless in the premiere episode (airing Wednesday).

Check out more of Taylor and Jesse in one of the greatest shows to ever hit television (based on ab count alone—we haven't exactly watched a single episode) after the jump!

It's been 20 years since Shaun Sperling performed Madonna's "Vogue" at his bar mitzvah in a video that went viral over summer, but judging from his recreation at a Hamburger Mary's in Chicago over the weekend, he's still got it!

Check out Shaun's much sexier update on his "Gay Bar Mitzvah" video after the jump!