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It boasts an extensive permanent collection from around the world, as well as a number of rotating temporary exhibits that are also always excellent.
Virginia Theatre
The Virginia Theatre is a stunning historic movie house that opened in 1921. PFLAG is the largest grassroots organization of its kind in the country and has 500 chapters with more than 200,000 members in the United States.
Spring and fall are also wonderful times to enjoy the outdoors, and between blooming flowers and the bright colors of changing leaves, there is plenty of natural beauty to enjoy in both seasons. It was originally called “West Urbana,” but was eventually renamed “Champaign” when it acquired a city charter in 1860. As the railroad and trade continued to expand, the town did too.
“We really want to be a place of safe harbor,” said Michael Maggi, director of sales at CRS Hospitality, the company that owns Anthem.
Reigniting an inclusive nightlife scene in Champaign has brought many longtime queer residents a new sense of excitement and a return to the city’s queer community.
“The last time I worked in a bar was probably C-Street,” said bar manager Cameron Hurley.
“It’s not just a lounge or a dance club. C Street was Champaign’s last remaining gay bar before it closed in 2017 when the building fell into disrepair and the owner sold it.
However, the site where C Street once stood is now being considered for designation as a historical site by the city of Champaign.
Amy Myers is known by many in Champaign-Urbana as the organizer of some of the area’s biggest drag shows, but she got her start bartending and hosting drag shows at C Street.
“I really felt the energy and the joy of the whole night,” Hurley said.
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‘Fractured’ and ‘disconnected,’ CU queer community seeks specific spaces
‘Support groups are not enough’: CU’s queer community works for more cohesion
CHAMPAIGN — Despite feeling like “there’s no shortage of queer people in Champaign,” finding the LGBTQ community in Champaign-Urbana wasn’t easy for 21-year-old Arden Hatch when she moved here in 2020 and came out as a trans woman.
“I think the community feels very disconnected,” she said.
Whether you enjoy parades, parties, networking opportunities, family-friendly activities, or all of the above, you can find it here!
The Best Neighborhoods in Champaign
If you're considering moving to Champaign, you will find that the entire city is very welcoming. And there was another gay bar called Giovanni’s.
This led to the rapid development of a new community initially known as West Urbana. And you could walk in at any time and see 100 or 300 people in that bar, or maybe even more on the weekends.
We even had gay newspapers back in the day, it was, you know, up at the front door, and you can read about everybody’s business, or you know, gossip.
Maybe it’s the fact that, you know, gays can go wherever they want to go now, or is more accepted than then.
And I think that comes back to community investment.
I think that also one of the answers to this is allyship. But not everyone is pinning their hopes on someone opening a new bar.
“Just getting a queer bar, I don’t think would meet the entire need for queer space and queer gathering,” Nicole Frydman said.
As director of operations for Uniting Pride, Frydman says the desire for a dedicated queer space is something they hear a lot from the community.
The group is currently located in the University YMCA, but Frydman says the small non-profit has a “starry-eyed pipe dream” for its own standalone center far in the future that could host some of the group’s educational and social programming, as well as serve as a gathering place.
Champaign resident Matthew Brown has a dream for a space of his own too.
“I think the more businesses we have that are LGBTQ+, the better we all are, and we want more and more to pop up and populate our community.”
Beyond their full-service bar and inclusivity, the minds behind Anthem are looking to expand their reach beyond just entertainment.
“We really want to be an active member of contributing as much as we are receiving,” Maggi said.
If you wanted to see another queer person, gay person, if you wanted to see a drag show, you have to go to the gay bar to see all that.
You know, and especially then, you know, people weren’t accepted, you know, in high school and you’re gay, you may get made fun of, or you may have a hard time fitting in or thinking that you’re the only one.
But then sometimes I’m tired being gawked at, and I’m tired of being the token queer person or the learning experience for someone or like, pretty much everywhere I go.
In almost every context, I’m teaching someone about gender and sexuality. There’s a lot of queer people here who really, really are invested.
Champaign and Urbana have intertwined histories dating back to the early 19th century.
If you’re thinking of finding your next home in Champaign, chances are, you’ll find plenty about it to love.
A Look at Champaign's History
Champaign was first established when the Illinois-Central Railroad came through the area in the mid-1800s. Urbana was established in 1833 as the county seat of the newly formed Champaign County, named after Urbana, Ohio.
In 1854, the Illinois Central Railroad extended its line through the region, but instead of passing directly through Urbana, it was laid two miles west, where the terrain was flatter. 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.