BLOOMINGTON – One of Central Illinois’ leading LGBTQ+ nonprofits, the Prairie Pride Coalition, has a new public office. It’s becoming more visible. It needs more volunteers.
To support that growth, today the PPC also has a new fundraiser: the Kick off to Pride Charity softball game.
Today’s game raises money for the Prairie Pride Coalition and features (l to r) co-organizer Shane ShareAlike, Herra Winn, The Bistro as co-organizer, Enzo Rodriguez, Lulu Stiletto and several more central Illinois drag artists.
Starting at 2 p.m., the event is shaping up to be more of a drag show on the softball diamond than a competitive ballgame. The game at Bloomington’s Miller Park Field is a collaboration among drag King Shane ShareAlike, The Bistro, and Our Favorite Things Boutique.
On behalf of the PPC, game organizers are asking the community to turn out today and help raise money for the nonprofit, which is behind almost everything LGBTQ+ in the Bloomington-Normal region.
A donation of $5 will be requested of folks who show up to cheer on the game.
“It’s special to get all these people together for something fun that helps people,” said ShareAlike, who played softball in high school. ”The more that come, the more we support an amazing organization in the community.”
“I love supporting local organizations, and PPC is one of the LGBT community’s biggest allies here,” said Jan Lancaster, Bistro owner and co-founder of PPC. The effort is also a revival of something Lancaster and The Bistro used to do, when they organized The Bistro Bears softball team around Pride season.
The Bistro also has organized a small kickball league, Bistro Fam Kickball, since 2023 that also raises money for local nonprofits.
Prairie Pride Coalition part of most LGBTQ+ efforts in Bloomington-Normal
PPC organizes social events of all kinds, acts as a local LGBTQ+ representative at many community events, hosts political panels and book clubs, and more. Among its projects: Gender Euphoria for transgender and nonbinary people, the True Colors Book Club, Rainbow of Steel for disabled people and Gaymers Night.
PPC also operates the Gender Expansive Resource Center with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal and hosts the Business & Resource Directory of affirming places in McLean County. It’s also a donor to MainStream’s Central Illinois news sections.
In August, the 31-year-old nonprofit moves into its first-ever office space, and recently started an LGBTQ+ health initiative called Project PRISM that is aimed at helping LGBTQ+ people throughout McLean County have better access to health care.
President Dave Bentlin says every dollar helps to cover costs like repairs, signage, technical needs and more. Plus, he says, everyone needs a boost right now.
“LGBTQ+ people are searching for moments of joy and pride during what is admittedly a stressful time for many folks in our queer community,” he said. “People who attend and participate in the game also serve as visual proof of the level of support for LGBTQ+ people locally.”
That sense of community is what organizers hope today’s game will provide, in addition to a financial boost to PPC. ShareAlike and Lancaster both say they hope today’s game kicks off a new annual tradition.
Players at today’s charity/drag/softball game will wear these shirts along with their drag decor. Our Favorite Things Boutique donated the shirts, plus $5 per shirt.
Diverse drag performers will join softballers
Two dozen players, mostly Central Illinois drag queens and kings, will “play” today, focused more on fun than following the rules closely.
“Some of the players have walk-up songs, and some of them have never played before,” ShareAlike said. “It will be a fun but controlled chaos.”
“I expect it will be a very low-stakes game with all of the fun you’d expect from drag performers,” says Nicole Bearden a softball coach and advocate who is volunteering to “umpire” today’s game.
The drag performers are diverse in many ways including geographically. They include:
- Miss River City Pride Lulu Stiletto, who is also the former Miss Trans Tennessee 2024.
- Herra Winn, a bearded drag queen based in Champaign-Urbana who also created Herra’s Drag Menagerie
- “sugar skull drag king” Enzo Rodriguez, from southern Illinois’ Murphysboro and a Decatur native, whose drag decor represents a key symbol of Mexican culture
- Peoria-based drag queen Storm Kouture, who describes herself as the “Midwestern Latin storm”
- Pioneering drag king Holden Ryder Gently, a Normal native now from Urbana
- Nikk A Demis, a drag king from Decatur
They’ll all wear shirts donated by Our Favorite Things Boutique, which also has already donated $5 per shirt to PPC. Community members donated bats, gloves, and softballs for the players.
Non-drag softball players will also be part of the fun, ShareAlike said.
The game is 2 p.m. at Miller Park Field, 1020 S. Morris Ave. Lancaster also invites attendees to a post-game pizza party at The Bistro, 316 N. Main St., at around 5 p.m.
(Christine Hawes contributed to this report)
