OUTSpoken! LGBTQ+ storytelling series celebrating 10 years in Chicago’s Northalsted community [Video]

CHICAGO (CBS) — It’s become a fun but important feature of Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community. “OUTSpoken!” at Sidetrack in Northalsted, is an monthly evening of storytelling that lets people share their lives and feel connected to others.

At an OUTSpoken! event earlier this month, Stephen Barnes recounted an important part of his life during Chicago Pride Fest 2022, when a host pulled a man on stage and asked, “Who was the first celebrity crush that made you realize you were gay?”

“Without missing a beat, I lean over to my partner and I whisper in his ear, ‘Tommy, the green Power Ranger,'” Barnes said.

Barnes said that was a turning point for him.

“My idolization of Tommy the green Power Ranger is the memory I look back on and think, ‘Man, that’s when I should have known I was gay,'” he said.

OUTSpoken! is a storytelling series for the city’s LGBTQ+ community. Archy …