Jake Wittich is managing editor of Windy City Times where he reports in-depth stories on Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community and oversees their publication’s growing newsletter operation. He was named the Chicago Journalist Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2025. He joins us biweekly on Wednesdays to share his excellent award-winning journalism. His latest includes a drop in HIV diagnoses in Chicago, Starr De Los Santos has been named chair of Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council, and a leadership change at Chicago bookstore Women & Children First (article continues below).
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New HIV Diagnoses Drop in Chicago
The Chicago Department of Health just released provisional figures that showed a significant reduction in new HIV cases in 2025.
“New HIV diagnoses in Chicago dropped 38%,” said Wittich. “We had 504 new HIV diagnoses last year, which is down from 818 in 2024. It could be the lowest annual number of new HIV diagnoses on record in Chicago.”
Additionally, the number of AIDS cases, which progress from HIV, fell 22%.
“Across the board, just signs of a lot of progress, which is great,” Wittich said.
However, according to Wittich, these figures are provisional. In December, health officials will finalize the count.
“As more data comes in, maybe other cases are confirmed from last year, things like that, the numbers could fluctuate a little bit,” Wittich said. “But if it holds this way, this is pretty significant.”
To understand what led to the decline, Wittich said that people taking PrEP has increased. He pointed to organizations like ALMA, which is a Latino queer-led organization, and Calor, another Latino-serving organization. Both work to provide culturally competent campaigns to promote PrEP and other HIV prevention tools.
“I think this culturally competent messaging has succeeded,” he said. Wittich plans to sit down with the Chicago Department of Health and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, in addition to ALMA and Calor, to discover more as to why these numbers could be dropping.
Racial Inequities Still Persist
When accounting for race and ethnicity, Wittich found that HIV rates are still higher among communities of color.
“Together, about 81% of all new diagnosed were among people of color,” he said.
According to the data, in 2025 of the 504 people newly diagnoses with HIV, 235 were Black/African-American and 171 were Latino
Again, however, the provisional data suggest the work of organizations like ALMA and Calor has been effective.
In 2024, Latino Chicagoans made up 50% of new cases.
“It’s now 34% of new diagnoses are among Hispanic Chicagoans,” said Wittich. “[But] there’s clearly still a lot more work to do with 81% of all new diagnoses being among people of color.”
Trump and RFK Jr Slashing Federal Dollars
At a time of progress, the Trump administration, RFK Jr, and DOGE have been going after all HIV programs at the federal level.
“The federal government has been slashing HIV prevention and care funding left and right, which is trickling down to local organizations at every city, but especially here in Chicago too,” Wittich said.
The South Side Health Center lost much of its funding for HIV testing. The CHIPAC Council, which allocates Ryan White Part A funding, has found that funding doesn’t match needs in the city.
Chicago’s Department of Health is also having a leadership transition. Commissioner Dr. Olusimbo Ige left the agency earlier this year. Mayor Johnson appointed Dr. Garth Walker to the post in July.
‘Reset’ At Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council
Wittich reported that Starr De Los Santos is the new chair of Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council. De Los Santos previously served as the council’s secretary.
“I interviewed Starr and our new director of LGBTQ affairs. His name is Antonio King. And Star really described this moment as a reset for the council,” Wittich said, also reporting the council has welcomed six new members. 90 people applied for those seats.
“Her biggest goal is just making the council more visible and accessible to LGBTQ+ Chicagoans,” Wittich said.
She told Wittich, “‘If I’m in this role, I want to make sure the community is able to reach me so that I have their input when I’m giving these recommendations to the city.'”
Mayor Harold Washington founded the Committee on Gay and Lesbian Issues in 1985. He was also the first mayor of the city to attend a pride parade.
Mayor Rahm Emmanuel dissolved the committee, but Mayor Lori Lightfoot re-established it as the LGBTQ+ Advisory Council. Under Mayor Brandon Johnson, the city created the first Director of LGBTQ+ Affairs after the council, led by Jin-Soo Huh, successfully pushed for the role.
Going Into The Community — Literally
While the council’s quarterly meetings have always taken place at City Hall, De Los Santos said she plans to host meetings at different LGBTQ organizations throughout the city.
“To queer people or people of color, there’s a police presence, security,” said Wittich. “There’s barriers to going into City Hall for many people.”
Citing technological needs, City Hall attempted to block the move.
“And then Star was like, ‘bet.’ She found locations where all those needs were met,” Wittich said. The council’s upcoming meeting on September 16 will be at the Center on Halsted.
Generational Change at Women & Children First Bookstore
The iconic feminist bookstore founded in 1979 will have a new co-owner as long-time co-owner Lynn Mooney retires.
Raven Stubbs, who has worked at Women & Children First for a number of years, will be the first Black co-owner in the store’s history. Stubbs, 35, currently serves as the executive director of Playmakers Laboratory which is a literary nonprofit that works with youth.
According to Wittich, Mooney and Stubbs have planned this transition for three years. While Mooney will retire, current co-owner Sarah Hollenbeck will continue to stay on.
Stubbs originally started working at Women & Children First in 2020. Since then she has been led efforts to revamp the store’s online sales platform as well as improve its HR policies.
According to Wittich, Stubbs plans to focus on representation and how it will position itself with the multiple communities it serves.
“It’s one thing to just stock books by women or that talk about feminist ideas, but she’s really saying the bookstore needs to be part of the fight more — not just providing information, but taking actions,” Wittich said.
Proposed ideas include reviving a feminist bookstore network and expanding its focus on customers and authors living with disabilities.
To read these stories in full, as well as all of Wittich’s award-winning reporting, please visit windycitytimes.com.
Windy City Times has been the voice of Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community since 1985. That’s 41 years of uplifting queer stories, reporting with pride, and chronicling LGBTQ+ history. Be sure to sign up for the publication’s excellent weekly newsletters.
