 |  | David Aaron & John Bash David Aaron (below) and Johnny Bash are live entertainment promoters in Chicago, with long ties to the club scene, going back to the 1970s.
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|  | Carmen Abrego & MariBeth Welch Abrego and Welch live in Oak Park and support various LGBT causes. Abrego is a long-time Chicagoan also known for her poetry. | |
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|  | David Boyer Boyer has been a fixture on the gay bar scene for decades, including at Carol's and Touche. | |
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|  | Evette Cardona & Mona Noriega Noriega and Cardona are one of Chicago's power couples, active on a wide range of GLBT and Latina issues, including thru Amigas Latinas. | |
|  | Evette Cardona Cardona is active in a wide range of GLBT and Latina issues.
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|  | CC Carter Carter is a poet, writer and cultural activist, especially known for her POW WOW poetry slams. | |
|  | Gary Chichester Chichester has been a gay activist since the early 1970s, serving in vital leadership positions. | |
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|  | Dr. Gladys Croom Croom, Psy.D., has worked on gay and lesbian mental health issues for many years. She was also active in Yahimba and Literary Exchange. | |
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|  | Teresa Dobbins Dobbins is active on a wide range of African American lesbian and spiritual issues. | |
|  | Murray Edelman Edelman was an activist in Chicago in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including with the Chicago Gay Liberation movement. | |
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|  | Ron Helizon Helizon has been active on gay issues since the 1960s, including as a bar owner, bar personality, and Catholic activist. | |
|  | Ted Hoerl & Steve Scott Both Hoerl (left) and Scott are active theater professionals in Chicago, with long ties to the gay community. They have been together since Nov. 1, 1 | |
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|  | Ted Hoerl Hoerl is an Actor-Director/ Adjunct Professor of Acting CCPA at Roosevelt University. In the 1980s he owned Opal Station, a popular gay bar. | |
|  | Sherri Jackson Jackson is a minister and healthcare practitioner with a wide range of gay and AIDS organizational involvement. | |
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|  | Phyllis Johnson & Barb Smith Partners Johnson (left) and Smith are supportive of a range of women's and African-American causes, including Affinity. | |
|  | Phyllis Johnson Johnson supports numerous gay, AIDS and African-American causes, including the AIDS Ride and Affinity. | |
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|  | Art Johnston & Jose A. Pena Johnston and Pena are co-owners of Sidetrack bar, which has been much-honored for its contributions to GLBT and AIDS charities. | |
|  | Art Johnston Johnston is co-owner of Sidetrack bar in Chicago, and a long-time activist on GLBT and AIDS issues. | |
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|  | Lola Lai Jong Lola Lai Jong has been important cultural and activist pioneer on lesbian and Asian Pacific Islander LGBT issues in Chicago and internationally. | |
|  | Nancy Katz & Janine Denomme Katz and Denomme were partners and both active on lesbian and gay issues. Katz is an associate judge, Denomme was director of the Horizons Youth Progr | |
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|  | Nancy Katz Katz is an Associate Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County, sitting in Domestic Relations Division. | |
|  | Bill Kelley & Chen Ooi Kelley and Ooi were long-time partners and activists. Kelley has been fighting for gay rights since the 1960s. Kelley died in 2015. | |
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|  | Bill Kelley Kelley was among Chicago's longest-serving and most important gay activists, having worked since the 1960s to secure gay rights. He died in 2015. | |
|  | Richard Knight Knight is a writer, musician, and all-around performer, working in and outside Chicago's gay community since the 1970s. | |
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|  | Danny Kopelson Kopelson has been a key staff member and volunteer for numerous gay and AIDS organizations, including AIDS Foundation of Chicago. | |
|  | Janice Layne Layne is a writer and activist, working on a range of LGBT and AIDS issues. It was Layne's idea for the LGBT community to march in the Bud Billikin Pa | |
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|  | Lynnell Long Long is a writer, performer and poet who was part of A Real Reed and a columnist writing on intersex and gender-identity issues for BLACKlines newspap | |
|  | Amy Matheny Matheny is an actor, radio host, and senior account representative for Windy City Media Group. She is executive producer of Windy City Queercast. | |
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|  | Pat McCombs McCombs has been an integral part of Chicago's LGBT community since the 1970s, when she first fought back against racial carding in the bars... | |
|  | Gwen Meyer Meyer is a long-time part of the lesbian community, including as co-owner of Razmataz bar. | |
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|  | Ifti Nasim Nasim was born in Pakistan and has been active on gay Southeast Asian issues in Chicago. | |
|  | Mona Noriega Noriega has been active on GLBT and Latina political and cultural issues since the 1970s. | |
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|  | Achy Obejas Obejas is the award-winning author of Days of Awe, Memory Mambo, and We Came all the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?. She was born in Hava | |
|  | Renae Ogletree Ogletree has been active on a range of youth, LGBT, AIDS and other causes in Chicago since the 1980s. | |
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|  | Dwight Okita Dwight Okita is an openly gay Japanese American writer in Chicago. | |
|  | Chen Ooi Chen Ooi has been active on gay Asian issues, and has also donated his graphic design service to gay organizations. | |
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|  | Jose A. Pena Pena is co-owner and video director of Sidetrack bar. He is a video pioneer, and donates his time and energy to numerous causes. | |
|  | Lisa Pickens Pickens is a co-founder of Affinity, a group for African-American lesbians, and is active on a variety of LGBT causes. | |
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|  | Jerry Pritikin Pritikin is an athlete and photographer who has documented the Chicago and San Francisco gay communities for several decades. | |
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|  | Kasey Reese Reese and his partner Javier Barajas were critical parts of numerous Chicago gay groups when they lived here. | |
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|  | Julio Rodriguez Rodriguez is a critical activist working on LGBT, AIDS, Latino and anti-violence issues, including as a founder of ALMA. | |
|  | Wanza Rowe Rowe and her partner Jean ping have been partners since April 9, 1971. | |
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|  | Wanza Rowe & Jean Ping Ping (left) and Rowe have been partners since April 9, 1971. They have supported lesbian social and service groups. | |
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|  | Norma Seledon Amador and partner Norma Seledon support a range of Latina lesbian and other causes. | |
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|  | Starla Sholl Sholl is a social worker in full-time private practice, with a large LGB clientelle. She has volunteered with several LGBT groups. | |
|  | Larry Simpson & Ed Zasadil Zasadil (left) and Simpson have been partners since 1962. Since their retirement they have been active on gay issues, including on gays in the militar | |
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|  | Art Sims Art "Chat Daddy" Sims is a relationship advice expert who helps both straight and gay people. As an openly gay man, he breaks down barriers.
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|  | Barb Smith Smith has been active in the community since the 1960s, when she was raising her daughter Chris. She is a key supporter of Affinity and WACT. | |
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|  | Chris Smith Smith is co-founder of Affinity, a South Side-based group for African-American lesbians. | |
|  | Max Smith Max Smith has been a gay activist since the 1970s, including on media, health and political issues. | |
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|  | Kathleen Thompson Thompson's involvement in the lesbian community includes opening the city's first feminist bookstore in the early 1970s. | |
|  | Pat Tomaso & Linda Palm Tomaso (left) and partner Linda Palm live in Barrington, Illinois. Tomaso is a retired teacher with many years of activism on behalf of gay teachers. | |
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|  | Pat Tomaso Tomaso is a retired teacher who works to make change for gay teachers in the Chicago schools. | |
|  | Steve Wakefield Wakefield spend many years in Chicago working for and heading up various gay and AIDS agencies. | |
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|  | Guy Warner Warner was the founder of the first support groups for parents and friends in Chicago, in the 1970s. | |
|  | Christy Webber Webber is owner of owner of Christy Webber Landscapes, a top women-owned business in Chicago. She donates to numerous LGBT and political causes. | |
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|  | Donna Weems Weems is a cultural and political activist and long-time Chicagoan who recently retired to Mexico. | |
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Out and Proud in Chicago:
An Overview of the City's Gay Community, the book is edited by Tracy Baim and features the contributions of more than 20 prominent historians and journalists. It is published by Surrey Books, an Agate imprint, and is hard cover, 224 pages, 4-color, with nearly 400 photos.
Click Here for more Information.
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