Here’s a look back at ten of the top local stories of interest as ranked by popularity on GoPride.com from 2019.
Empire star Jussie Smollett dominated the headlines during the first month of 2019. The actor claimed he was attacked by two men "yelling racial and homophobic slurs" to get his attention before beating him, throwing bleach on him and wrapping a rope around his neck before fleeing.
In February, Smollet surrendered to authorities and was charged with one count of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.
A grand jury later indicted Smollett on 16 counts of disorderly conduct for reporting a hate crime that police claim was staged by the actor because he was "dissatisfied with his salary" on the Fox drama. The charges were suddenly dropped in March.
To this day, Smollett has maintained his innocent. In a lawsuit, the actor has accused the city of Chicago and police of malicious prosecution.