This week we are thinking about some good legislation!  For all the losses on the Federal side, it's important for us to pay attention to the wins. So this week we're gonna highlight some news stories on just that, and update you on what us Lavender contributors are reading and vibing with this week. 

News to Know

• Gov. Pritzker signs two bills protecting reproductive rights at University YMCA (Daily Illini): JB Pritzker came to town when I wasn't looking! But this is a reminder to read the Daily Illini even if you aren't a student! And learning about how a student org helped get this legislation going is pretty inspiring ngl.
  
• Pritzker announces launch of legal hotline and resource hub for LGBTQ+ community  (Windy City Times):A new legal resource for queer illinoisians has dropped and it is definitely worth having handy! Read about it here and then check out their website at https://www.ilprideconnect.org/vital-records-id-documents.

Lavender Vibes

• A City Drowned in God's Black Tears by Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals - This experimental genre-bending album will no question be one of my most listened to of 2025. I learned about it from an interview by the nonprofit news outlet The Baltimore Banner and it absolutely blew my mind. My favorite songs jump around all the time, but right now it's Sometimes, Papi Chulo. This album is a breath of fresh air in how matter of fact it is. It is unabashedly anti-zionist, anti-establishment, and it's just so honest. It's also very reflective on the casual suicidality that comes from living in a world that actively works to kill you and everyone you care about, here and abroad. So that would be my trigger warning, this album talks very openly about mental health, self-harm, and just generally feeling kinda suicidal. But if you can get through that, you'll see an amazing album that hits you right in the heart with it's catharsis. - Jada
  
• La Ley de Herodes (Herod's Law) - I've been wanting to learn more Spanish so my lovely partner has been introducing me to some of his favorite Mexican films and filmmakers. The most recent film he showed me was the 1999 political satire La Ley de Herodes, directed by Luis Estrada. While this film is very specifically a critique of political corruption in Mexico's Institutionalized Revolutionary Party, it also feels very familiar for folks in the US when thinking of our own woes with political corruption. The film follows Juan Vargas as he is sent to be the mayor of a rural Mexican town that does not want his help and has no budget for any capital improvements. As Vargas finds ways to accrue funds for the town, we watch as money and power brew chaos for the one mild-mannered partyman. La Ley de Herodes remains a darkly funny cautionary tale of what happens when a party prioritizes staying in power over the public good, and how easy the average person can be seduced into participating in evil institutions given the right circumstances. - Jada

Reminder: Our Lavender Open House is tomorrow, Saturday, August 30 from 3pm to 6pm at the Champaign Public Library. We'll be in the Busey Bank Conference room on the second floor, so come hang with us! It'll be a casual event so come and go as you please, but we'll have Lavender Prairie and Lavender Newsletter copies to look through, as well as info on what's coming next for us at The Lavender and how you can contribute! See you there folks :D