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PASSAGES: Retired Cook County Assistant State's Attorney William H. Hall IV
Retired Cook County Assistant State's Attorney William H. Hall IV died April 22 due to rheumatoid arthritis related to interstitial lung disease. He was 61. Hall was born on Jan. 13, 1963, in Chicago, and spent ...
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LGBTQ Catholic group mourns the passing of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
--From a press release
April 5, 2024. DignityUSA joins members of the Archdiocese of Detroit and millions of people around our country and the world in mourning the death of Detroit Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. Bishop Gumbleton received DignityUSA's Risk Taker/Justice ...
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Ella Matthes, award-winning publisher, editor of Lesbian News Magazine, dies at 81
--From an ILDKMedia press release
Los Angeles, CA - Ella Matthes, longtime publisher and editor of Lesbian News Magazine, passed away from a heart attack on March 16, 2024 at The Little Company of Mary hospital in Norwalk, California. She was ...
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PASSAGES Dorothy Elizabeth McGroarty
Dorothy Elizabeth McGroarty, 82, of The Breakers at Edgewater Beach, and a former resident of Andersonville, passed away Feb. 16 surrounded by her loving family. Born in Dearborn, Michigan, Dorothy was raised on Chicago's South and ...
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PASSAGES Bryan Dean Wilson
Bryan Dean Wilson, 64, of Chicago, passed away March 11. Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Bryan graduated from Washington High school in Cedar Rapids before earning his B.S. in Biology from Mount Mercy University, also in ...
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PASSAGES: Former Chicago Commission on Human Relations chair Clarence Wood
LGBTQ ally and former Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR) Chair and Commissioner Clarence N. Wood died March 5. He was 83. Wood was born April 14, 1940, in Alabama. While primarily raised in Alabama, Wood ...
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Longtime LGBTQ+-rights activist David Mixner dies at 77
On March 11, longtime LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist David Mixnerknown for working on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign but then splitting from him over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT)died at age 77, The Advocate reported. ...
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LGBTQ+ Victory Fund remembers co-founder David Mixner
--From a press release
Today, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund President & CEO Mayor Annise Parker released the following statement on the passing of LGBTQ+ civil rights activist and LGBTQ+ Victory Fund co-founder David Mixner: "Today, we lost David Mixner, a founding ...
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PASSAGES Charles R. Tobin
Charles R. Tobin, 81, peacefully passed away on Dec. 23, 2023, in the company of his husband, after living with Lewey body dementia for several years. Charlie was born and raised in the Fernwood neighborhood on ...
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PASSAGES Trailblazing judge and attorney Patricia M. Logue passes away
The Honorable Patricia Logue ("Pat" to her friends, Trish" to her family) was a brilliant lawyer, a trailblazing jurist and a hero to the LGBTQ community. Pat's legacy includes numerous landmark cases she litigated over her ...
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Oklahoma non-binary student dies after being assaulted
Officials acknowledged there are unresolved questions about a 16-year-old non-binary Oklahoma student who died one day after a fight in a high school bathroom, NBC News noted. Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, ...
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GLAAD remembers Cecilia Gentili, transgender Latina, actress, activist, health care activist, journalist
--From a press release
(New York, NY - February 6, 2024) GLAAD, the world's largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, is responding to the death of transgender actress and advocate Cecilia Gentili and elevating voices of transgender and political leaders honoring ...
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More information emerges about death on Atlantis gay cruise
By Lu Calzada
Further details have emerged following the death of a Chicago man on a Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas Atlantis cruise targeted towards gay men. Following a Reddit post by the man's sister which has ...
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PASSAGES Imperial Court's Scott Archer remembered as selfless, devoted
By Alec Karam
As the old saying goes, we all have an angel on one shoulder, and a devil on the other. Well, Scott Archer was all angel, his best friend Herman Coen believes. "Everybody wanted to talk to Scott, because Scott was Scott," ...
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Broadway star Chita Rivera dies at 91
Chita Riveraa Broadway legend with more than seven decades of creditshas died at age 91 after a short illness, People Magazine reported. "It is with immense personal sorrow that I announce the death of the beloved ...
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PASSSAGES Chef Michael Thomas Zito
Chef Michael Thomas Zito, 55, ("Chef Bear Italia" and "Big Chef") passed away December 12, 2023, unexpectedly at home in Chicago's Belmont Gardens neighborhood. Born in Kentucky to Pentecostal missionaries from New York, Mike began cooking ...
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Gay political trailblazer Ken Sherrill passes away at age 81
Kenneth Sherrilla pioneering political scientist who was also the first out gay elected official in New York historydied in early December at age 81 from surgical complications, Gay City News reported. He is survived by his ...
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PASSAGES Paris Johnson
Paris Johnson, 29, of Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, passed away unexpectedly Nov. 28. He would have celebrated his 30th birthday Dec. 20. Born into a military family in Sacramento, California, Paris moved often in his youth, ...
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PASSAGES Frankie Franklin-Foxx
Frankie Franklin-Foxx (born Waverlynn Franklin), a resident of Chicago's North Side, passed away peacefully Dec. 13 at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. She was 68. Born at Cook County Hospital, Frankie graduated from South Shore High ...
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PASSAGES Former Republican Illinois legislator Susan Catania remembered for supporting gay rights
Advocates remember former Illinois legislator Susan Catania as an active ally in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Susan died Nov. 27 after a fire broke out in her home in Wisconsin, according to a tribute written ...
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'She was here...and she is here': Street to be renamed after Elise Malary
By Alec Karam
The memory of the late activist Elise Malary will soon become a permanent part of Andersonville's Catalpa Avenue. The renamed "Elise Malary Way" will encompass the Catalpa Plaza area, a planned pedestrian plaza between Ashland Avenue ...
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PASSAGES Todd Vitale
Todd Louis Vitale, 60, a professional vocalist and Realtor who lived in Chicago's Sheridan Park neighborhood, passed away peacefully Nov. 15, after a long battle with ALS-Lou Gehrig's disease. Born in East St. Louis, Illinois, Todd ...
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Chicagoans gather to mark the 2023 Trans Day of Remembrance
Brave Space Alliance, Chicago Therapy Collective and Life is Work joined forces to celebrate Trans Day of Remembrance under the banner New Era Together Nov. 19 at Venue West, 221 N. Paulina St., on the West ...
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PASSAGES: Mexico's first out nonbinary magistrate Jesus Ociel Baena Saucedo
On Nov. 13, Mexico's first out nonbinary magistrate and LGBTQ+ activist Jesus Ociel Baena Saucedo was found dead in their state of Aguascalientes home alongside their partner Dorian Herrera. They were 38. According to state prosecutor ...
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PASSAGES Ashley Marie McClure-Wolfson
Ashley Marie McClure-Wolfson, "Ash," pharmacist, BCACP, AAHIVP, passed away suddenly Nov. 11. She was 35 and a resident of the Andersonville neighborhood. Born in Burnsville, Minnesota, Ashley graduated from Burnsville High School and completed a six-year ...
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PASSAGES Best-selling author, labor lawyer, feminist, LGBTQ ally Linda Hirshman
Best-selling author, renowned pro-union labor lawyer, Brandeis University professor, feminist and LGBTQ ally Linda Hirshman died Oct. 31 in Burlington, Vermont of cancer. She was 79. Hirshman was born April 26, 1944, in Cleveland where she ...
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PASSAGES James Taylor Bannen
James Taylor Bannen, 61, of Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, passed away Nov. 11 after an unexpected cardiac event. James was born in Rockford and grew up in Terre Haute, Indiana, the son of Howard James Bannen, ...
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Equality Illinois mourns the death of Magistrate Dr. Jesus Ociel Baena Saucedo
--From a press release
Statement by Mony Ruiz-Velasco, Deputy Director at Equality Illinois, the state's civil rights organization for LGBTQ+ people, regarding the death of Dr Jesus Ociel Baena Saucedo: "I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of ...
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PASSAGES Local bowling legend, Wordle enthusiast Mary Ann Graziano
Mary Ann Graziano was a fervent Wordle player, avid bowler and an ace golfer. But above all else, she was a friend to many. The Palatine native died Oct. 9 at the age of 82, after a long illness that left ...
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PASSAGES: Chicagoan Lisa Love
Chicagoan Lisa Love was shot and killed in the early morning hours of Oct. 17. She was 35, and at the time was the 33rd transgender, nonbinary or gender non-conforming American to be killed in 2023, ...
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PASSAGES: Activist, former Organized Chaos Chicago president Kathy Guzman
Community activist, former Organized Chaos Chicago (OCC) president and founding member and now-retired queer women-focused L Stop website editor-at-large and writer Kathy Guzman died October 26 of heart complications. She ...
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PASSAGES Avid ceramicist Don Heggemann remembered for 'dedicated,' lively presence
Ceramics instructor Dubhe CarreƱo first met Don Heggemann when he took her Saturday general ceramics class at Northeastern Illinois University in 2010. He took every one of her classes after that. Heggemann eventually joined the staff ...
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PASSAGES: Longtime social justice activist, filmmaker, writer Amber Hollibaugh
Longtime social justice and HIV/AIDS activist, filmmaker, public speaker and writer Amber Hollibaugh died Oct. 20 due to complications from type one diabetes in her Brooklyn, New York home. She was 77. A self-described "lesbian sex ...
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Boisterous activist/business owner Marge Summit remembered
A group of Chicago-area friends gathered Oct. 15 at the Baton Show Lounge to celebrate the extraordinary life of LGBTQ+ activist and community organizer and former bar owner Marge Summit. Summit, the former owner of the ...
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PASSAGES: Lighting specialist, Chicago Gay Men's Chorus alum Xavier Yager
Lighting specialist, former Proctor and Gamble pharmaceutical sales representative and Chicago Gay Men's Chorus alum Xavier Yager died Oct. 1 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in his home due to heart failure. He was 66. Yager was ...
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PASSAGES: Peter Vamvakas
Peter Vamvakas of Forest Parka loving partner, son, brother, uncle, and frienddied Aug. 23. due to complications from an accident while vacationing in Key West, Florida. He was 60. He was born in Chicago on April ...
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PASSAGES: Renowned DJ, music producer Teresa K. Bristol aka Teri Bristol
Renowned DJ and music producer Teresa Kaye Bristol, aka Teri Bristol, died Sept. 25 in Beechgrove, Tennessee of kidney failure, following an over three-year battle with the disease. She was 66. Bristol was born Dec. 26, ...
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PASSAGES: Former Chicago lesbian nightclub bartender Jennifer Cadieux
Former lesbian nightclub bartender Jennifer Cadieux died Oct. 1 of cancer at the age of 60. She was surrounded by close friends. ...
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Groundbreaking U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein passes away at 90
Dianne Feinsteināthe oldest member of the U.S. Senate and the longest-serving senator from Californiaāhas passed away at age 90. Feinstein had planned to retire at the end of her 2024 term, according to CNBC. Shecast her ...
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PASSAGES: Chicago musician, producer and DJ Don Crescendo
Queer Chicago musician, producer and DJ Rodney Donovan Taylor, a.k.a. Don Crescendo, was fatally stabbed on the evening of Sept. 12 in his Avondale neighborhood apartment building. He died Sept. 15 at Illinois Masonic Hospital after ...
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Marge Summit's life to be celebrated Oct. 15
--From a press release
A celebration of the extraordinary life of Marge Summit, the legendary Chicago bar owner, promoter of live music artists, political advocate and much more who passed away on May 16, 2023. Born Sept. 3, 1935 in ...
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PASSAGES Beauman "Beau" Kent Breeden
Beauman "Beau" Kent Breeden, 41, passed away Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. Beau is survived by his partner, Eddie Gamboa, and their rabbits Cap and Debbie, as well as queer family that went above and beyond to ...
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PASSAGES: Former OPALGA+ board member, editor JoAnn Ziebarth
Former Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association (OPALGA+) board member and editor JoAnn Ziebarth died July 18 after suffering a bad fall. She was 67. Ziebarth was born Dec. 27, 1955, in DeKalb, where ...
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Singer Sinead O'Connor dies at 56
Sinead O'Connorāthe Irish singer and activist who scored a global smash with a cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" in 1990 and who was banned from Saturday Night Live for tearing up a photo of ...
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PASSAGES Performer-teacher Jeffrey Stephen Carlson
Jeffrey Stephen Carlson, 48, of Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood passed away July 6. He was both an accomplished Broadway actor and esteemed classical performer, as well as a dedicated teacher of Shakespeare, who leaves behind a legacy ...
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PASSAGES Radical poet, theorist, educator, activist Minnie Bruce Pratt
Radical poet, essayist, educator, theorist and feminist, LGBTQ+, anti-racist and anti-imperialist activist Minnie Bruce Pratt died June 2 in Syracuse, New York surrounded by friends and family members, after a brief and sudden illness. She was ...
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Passages: Benjamin Feathers passes away
Benjamin Feathers, "Pup Fenrir", 41, of Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, died in an apartment fire on July 1. Ben lived a very lively life. He was a lifestyle member of Chicago's Leather community. Like so many others, ...
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PASSAGES Music producer, vocalist, business owner Ralph Lampkin Jr.
Music producer, vocalist and business owner Ralph Lampkin, Jr. died June 24 of a heart attack. He was 66. Lampkin was born April 29, 1957, in New York City, where he lived with his parents Ralph ...
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PASSAGES Artist Stash Kybartas
Stashu Kybartas, a video artist who also worked in installation and performance art, passed away May 17 at his home in Chicago. Robert Colucci, his husband of 48 years, was with him at the time of ...
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PASSAGES Athlete and retired restaurant manager Michael L. Reid
Athlete and retired restaurant manager Michael L. Reid died peacefully under hospital care June 11 due to complications from a decade-long battle with cancer. He was 65. Reid was born February 28, 1958, in Dayton, Ohio ...
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Anti-LGBTQ+ televangelist Pat Robertson dies at 93
The Rev. Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertsonan influential and controversial voice of conservative Christianity who even ran for president in 1988has died at age 93. The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) initially ...
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PASSAGES: LGBTQ+ advocate Margaret Davis a.k.a. Spencer Ice
Bisexual LGBTQ+ advocate and retired University of Chicago auditor Margaret Davis, a.k.a. Spencer Ice, died May 30 after a 14 year battle with cancer. Davis was born on Aug. 3 (she wished not to have ...
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PASSAGES Chicago cultural and music advocate, poet, educator Diane Gomez
Chicago cultural and music advocate, poet and educator Diane Gomez died May 5 due to complications from cancer. She was 70. Gomez was born September 28, 1952, on the South Side of Chicago to a very ...
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PASSAGES Longtime LGBTQ+ activist and community organizer, former bar owner Marge Summit
Longtime LGBTQ+ activist and community organizer, icon and former owner of the now defunct His n' Hers bar Marge Summit died May 16. She was 87. Summit was born Sept. 3, 1935, on the North Side ...
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WORLD Turkish president, former congressman dies, Polish case, Uganda, sports
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again attacked the country's LGBTQ+ community in a bid to rally his conservative voters before the May 14 election, france24.com noted. Polls showed Erdoganwhose campaign is dealing with an economic crisis ...
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PASSAGES: Real estate agent and former DJ Earl Reid, Jr.
Real estate agent and former DJ Earl King Reid, Jr. died May 1 due to hypertension and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. He was 67. Reid was born in 1956 in Chicago, where he lived his entire life. ...
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PASSAGES Former Gay Chicago Magazine entertainment editor Jeff Rossen
Former Gay Chicago Magazine entertainment editor Jeff Rossen died of complications from COPD on April 19. He was 67. Rossen was born Dec. 10, 1955, in Oak Lawn. He spent his childhood and teen years in ...
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PASSAGES: Retired Chicago Fire Department district chief, paramedic Pat Ciara
Retired Chicago Fire Department (CFD) district chief, paramedic and at one time the highest ranking out lesbian in the history of the CFD, Pat Ciara died April 19 of lung cancer in Lake Worth, Florida. She ...
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Lauren Verdich memorial May 20
Celebration of Life for longtime Chicagoan LGBTQ activist and business owner Lauren Verdich will be Saturday May 20, 2023, 12:30-4 p.m., University Club Chicago, 76 E. Monroe. Donations can be sent to Lambda Legal in Lauren's ...
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NATIONAL Trans-rights cases, Brittney Griner, Elton John, law firm, passages, Twitter
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals plans to meet as a full court to consider a pair of trans-rights cases from West Virginia and North Carolina, NBC News reported. The Richmond-based appeals court said it ...
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PASSAGES Charles "Chuck" Williams was founder of the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity Law, Public Policy
Charles "Chuck" Williamsthe founder of the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy, a think tank at the UCLA School of Lawpassed away April 11. Williams Institute Executive Director Brad Sears ...
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PASSAGES: Visual artist, Chicago nightlife scene drag performer legend and hairdresser Jojo Baby
Visual artist, Chicago nightlife scene drag performer legend, doll-maker and hairdresser Jojo Baby died March 14 of liver, lung and stomach cancer. They were 51. Baby was born April 10, 1971, in Chicago and grew up ...
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World's first transgender MP passes away at 65
On March 6, Georgina Beyera pioneering New Zealand politician who, in 1999, became the world's first openly transgender member of Parliamentpassed away at the age of 65. Beyer's friends said she died peacefully in hospice care, ...
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Passages: Longtime activist Achebe (Betty) Powell passes away
Veteran social justice organizer and educator Achebe (Betty) Powell passed away Feb. 21, according to multiple reports. Powell died of COVID-19 related complications at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Brooklyn, according to a Feb. 22 statement ...
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PASSAGES: LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS activist, retired business owner Lauren Verdich
Longtime LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS activist and businesswoman Lauren Verdich died Feb. 12 of complications from pancreatic cancer. She was 77. Verdich was born Dec. 30, 1945, in Chicago. She grew up in the Albany Park neighborhood ...
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Famed gay publicist Howard Bragman dies at 66
Howard Bragman—a gay publicist whose clients included Sharon Osbourne and Stevie Wonder, among many others—died at age 66 after privately battling acute monocytic leukemia, Deadline reported. After graduating from ...
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PASSAGES: LGBTQ activist, writer and therapist Dr. Charles Silverstein
New York City-based LGBTQ activist, writer and therapist Dr. Charles Silverstein died Jan. 30 of complications from cancer surrounded by family and friends. He was 87. Silverstein was born April 23, 1935, in Brooklyn, New York ...
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PASSAGES Gene R. Matterer
Gene R. Matterer died on Jan. 16, 2023 of cancer, according to his family. He was 82 years old. Matterer was born on Feb. 17, 1940. Following his school days in Crystal Lake, Illinois, he enlisted in the army ...
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LGBTQ+ police officer remembered as 'wonder woman'
On Dec. 29, the friends and loved ones of LGBTQ+ Bradley Police Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic gathered at the Comfort Inn in Bourbonnais to mark the one-year anniversary of her passing, ABC 7 Chicago reported. The hotel ...
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In memoriam: LGBTQ community obituaries 2022
The LGBTQ community lost many members in 2022, including at least 35 people in incidents of hate violence against individual transgender people and against patrons of the Club Q bar in Colorado. Here are other memorable ...
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Memorial set for Charlotte Newfeld
Memorial set for Charlotte Newfeld Memorial services for LGBTQ+ community ally and Lakeview activist Charlotte Newfeld will be Tuesday, Jan. 24 at Ann Sather's on Belmont, from 6-8 p.m. Newfeld died Nov. 17 due to natural causes. She ...
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PASSAGES: LGBTQ+ ally, activist and artist Charlotte Newfeld passes away
LGBTQ+ ally, activist and artist Charlotte Newfeld died Nov. 17 due to natural causes. She was 91. At the time of her death, Newfeld was living at the Dobson Memory Care facility in Evanston. Newfeld was ...
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Passages: Sexologist and activist Dr. Thomas Gertz passes away
Sexologist and activist Dr. Thomas Gertz died Oct. 28 due to natural causes. He was 77. At the time of his death, Gertz was in an assisted living facility. He had previously lived at Heartland ...
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PASSAGES Singer Aaron Carter dies at 34
Singer Aaron Carter—the brother of Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter—has died after apparently drowning at his L.A. home at age 34, according to media reports. TMZ originally reported the news. The outlet said that he was ...
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Memorial for Urvashi Vaid to be livestreamed Nov. 3
A memorial celebration of the life of Urvashi Vaid will be held on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT at B'Nai Jesherun, 258 W. 88th St., New York City. In-person RSVPs are at capacity. However, the event will ...
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