UP Center History

The UP Center of Champaign County was started in the Fall of 2009 with the purpose to plan and promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and allied support services, social gathering, special events, and education in Champaign County. At that time, there were a few individual groups providing a variety of supports for the LGBTQ+ community that were struggling over the same things: audience, space, funds, and general resources. The UP Center was formed to provide an umbrella structure for which these things could be shared.

The Center was founded by a dedicated group of volunteers who came together to develop the organization’s mission and structure. The structure was intentionally developed to be flexible and allow growth through community need and volunteerism. The Center was incorporated by the state of Illinois as a non-profit organization in January 2010 and the Federal 501(c)(3) application for Tax-Exempt status was submitted to the IRS in February of 2010.

Since its beginning, the UP Center has focused on building connections with individuals, groups, organizations, and municipalities in order to cultivate a community of support, share resources, and educate. The first support groups formed under the organization’s umbrella were the youth group (Talk It UP), and the men’s support group (Man UP). Over the years, several groups have provided support to different communities as needed, while our community has also benefited from the Center’s special events such as the C-U Pride Parade and Festival.

A Brief History Lesson About the Stonewall Riots

Another raid by New York City police on the Stonewall Inn in the early morning of June 28, 1969 seemed to be the breaking point for the gay, lesbian, queer, and transgender patrons of the Greenwich Village safe haven. When police lined up the slightly more than two hundred patrons in the bar, the group was separated into those who were about to be arrested. This group included all persons not dressed as their assigned at birth gender, a crime in 1969. While waiting for the patrol wagons to make an appearance to bring those arrested to the police station, the crowd grew agitated and restless, with some accounts crediting Storme DeLarverie, a biracial drag king who was being arrested, as igniting the pushback. Marsha P. Johnson, a trans woman of color and drag queen, known for her presence on Christopher Street, was one of the vanguards of the protest. The officers, soon outnumbered, found themselves and some of those they were going to arrest barricaded back in the bar. Thirteen people in total were arrested. It is estimated that some 500 to 600 people were outside the Stonewall that night. The riot lasted until 4 a.m., then started again the next night. For six nights, the local gay community, drag queens and transgender patrons, homeless youth, and allies, filled Christopher Street and the surrounding neighborhood. From that night, organizations like the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), founded by, transwomen of color, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, and the Gay Liberation Front formed. DeLarverie went on to be an influential member of the Stonewall Veterans Association and worked as a protector to local Village lesbian bars. Now, fifty years later, parades and celebrations are held around the world to remember that Pride started as a riot.