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Los Angeles LGBT Center mourns passing of legendary LGBT activist, leader Urvashi Vaid
-- From a press release
LOS ANGELES, May 14, 2022—"The world has lost a giant in the movement for LGBTQ freedom, justice and equality. After a valiant battle with cancer, Urvashi Vaid died today," said Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Lorri ...
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PASSAGES Urvashi Vaid dies, The National LGBTQ Task Force releases statement
-- From a press release
WASHINGTON, DC……Legendary attorney, LGBTQ activist, and author Urvashi Vaid, known for her extensive career an advocate for LGBTQ rights, women's rights, anti-war efforts, immigration justice and many other social causes ...
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PASSAGES Dr. David Ostrow dies at 74
Longtime researcher Dr. David Gene Ostrow, of Chicago, died unexpectedly on Feb. 16 at home. He was 74. The cause of death was end-stage renal disease, according to the Tribute Archive website. Ostrow was born on ...
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LGBTQ+-rights activist, Steamworks co-founder Rick Stokes dies at 87
Rick Earl Stokes, famously "the other gay candidate" who ran against Harvey Milk for San Francisco supervisor in 1977, died May 3 at age 87, according to the Bay Area Reporter. Stokes died in San Francisco ...
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PASSAGES Playwright/disability-rights activist Susan Nussbaum dies
Susan Nussbaum—a Chicago playwright, novelist and longtime disability-rights activist—died April 28 at age 68. Nussbaum won the 2012 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Social Engaging Fiction for her novel Good Kings Bad ...
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Chicago theater actress Hollis Resnik dies at 66
Chicago theater actress Hollis Resnick, who had a glittering resume, has passed away at age 66. The Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones tweeted, "Sad to report that Father Jim Heneghan tells me that the great Chicago actress ...
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Loved ones mourn loss of Elise Malary
Angelina Nordstrom remembers their close friend Elise Malary through candid photos and videos they loved to surprise her with. "My favorite thing was to catch her off-guard with the camera, to capture random moments of her ...
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Shattered Globe Theatre and Chicago Dramatists to host 'Remembering Joel Drake Johnson' on April 30
-- From a press release
CHICAGO (April 8, 2022) — Shattered Globe Theatre and Chicago Dramatists will celebrate the life and legacy of longtime Chicago playwright Joel Drake Johnson—a member of the LGBTQ+ community—at a ...
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Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright dies
Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. secretary of state, has died of cancer at age 84, according to media reports. President Bill Clinton chose Albright as the country's top diplomat in 1996, and she served in ...
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Chicago Black trans woman Tatiana Labelle found dead
Chicago Black trans woman Tatiana "Tee Tee" Labelle, 33, was found dead in a trash can at about 12:45 p.m. on Friday, March 18, in the Chatham neighborhood alley located in the 8400 block of South ...
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PASSAGES Behavioral-wellness manager Tony Hollenback
Tony Hollenback—a former Chicagoan who resided in Santa Barbara, California—has passed away. He was 52. Journal & Topics noted that Tim Hollenback said of Tony, "During a dental procedure, my brother Tony ...
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PASSAGES Mogul Marilyn Miglin, wife of Andrew Cunanan murder victim, dies at 83
Marilyn Miglin the Chicago beauty mogul who rose to fame as a saleswoman on the Home Shopping Network and was thrust into the national limelight again in 1997 when her husband, business tycoon/philanthropist Lee Miglin, ...
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Actor William Hurt dies at 71
William Hurt who garnered three consecutive Oscar nominations for Best Actor in his movies for Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Children of a Lesser God (1986) and Broadcast News (1987), winning for his gay role in ...
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PASSAGES OPALGA member Jan Grillos dies
Jan O. Grillos, a longtime member of the Oak Park LGBTQ+ organization OPALGA+ who was formerly from Denver, passed away March 2. Grillos was a systems programmer for United and Frontier Airlines, Sales Executive for several ...
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PASSAGES Civic leader, LGBTQ+ ally Josephine Minow dies at 95
Josephine Baskin Minow—a civic leader with an interest in social justice and Chicago and Jewish history—has died at age 95, The Chicago Tribune reported. Minow was the past president of the Juvenile Protective Agency and a ...
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PASSAGES Longtime LGBTQ activist, journalist Maxsonn 'Max' Smith
Longtime LGBTQ activist and journalist Maxsonn "Max" Smith died Feb. 9 due to complications from the stroke he suffered in early 2021 and COVID-19. He was 67. Smith was born April 4, 1954, in Hickory, North ...
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French co-discoverer of HIV dies at 89
French researcher Luc Montagnier—who won a Nobel Prize in 2008 for discovering HIV and, more recently, spread false claims about the coronavirus—has died at age 89, ABC News noted. Montagnier died Feb. 8 at the American ...
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Longtime LGBTQ+-rights activist Guy Warner dies at 79
Longtime LGBTQ+-rights activist Guy F. Warner died Feb. 1 of liver-related complications. He was 79. Warner was born Feb. 2, 1942, and grew up in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood; he was the oldest of seven children. ...
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Gay Maryland mayor dies by suicide
The Maryland city of Hyattsville released a statement announcing its city's openly gay mayor, Kevin Ward, had died by an apparent suicide, The Washington Blade reported. On Twitter, the city posted, "It is with great sadness ...
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PASSAGES Renowned author, professor, LGBTQ+-rights activist Arnie Kantrowitz
Renowned author, professor and LGBTQ activist Arnie Kantrowitz died Jan. 21 in New York City's Upper East Side Rehabilitation Center due to complications from COVID-19. He was 81. Kantrowitz was born Nov. 26, 1940, in Newark, ...
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Fashion designer Thierry Mugler dies at 73
Openly gay French fashion designer Thierry Mugler (full name: Manfred Thierry Mugler) has passed away at age 73, according to media reports. Madonna, Lady Gaga and Cardi B are among those who have worn his designs. ...
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Former Iowa Mr. Leather and computer programmer Ken Ballard dies at 43
Former Iowa Mr. Leather, computer programmer and gay Chicagoan Ken Meverick Ballard died Jan. 11 in his Lake View home at the age of 43. The cause of death is currently unknown. Ballard was born July ...
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PASSAGES Pansy Kings performance artist, education advocate Murray McKay
Pansy Kings performance artist, education advocate, curator, designer and LGBTQ activist Edward Murray McKay died Jan. 4 of cancer. He was 53. McKay was born Oct. 2, 1968, in Brussels, Belgium. The family moved to Toronto ...
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Fashion icon Andre Leon Talley dies at 73
Andre Leon Talley—the fashion icon and former creative director of Vogue magazine—died Jan. 18 at age 73. Details were not immediately revealed. In addition to his agent, Talley's Instagram account confirmed Talley's passing, noting that ...
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PASSAGES Allen Anthony Schuh
Allen Schuh loved Christmas, so as a final gift he got to see his beloved lights and ornaments one last time before passing quietly away Dec. 28, 2021. Born July 9, 1940, in Chicago's South Side, ...
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PASSAGES Veronica Drake
Veronica Drake a onetime Chicago resident and longtime LGBTQ+-rights activist recently passed away in October. She was 58. She last resided in Florida. According to an obituary at Marvin C. Zanders Funeral Home, Inc., Drake was born Sept. 15 ...
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PASSAGES Jeffrey Wayne ("Jef") Morgan
Jeffrey Wayne "Jef" Morgan, of Chicago's West Rogers Park neighborhood, passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack while shoveling snow on Jan. 2. He was 58. Jef was the well-loved manager at Little Jim's on ...
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PASSAGES Black trans activist Ke'Yahonna Stone, victim of gun violence, dies
Ke'Yahonna Stone was shot at Castle Run Shopping Center's Epic Ultra Lounge parking lot in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the early morning hours of Dec. 26. She was taken to the hospital and died Dec. 28 after ...
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LGBTQ Illinois police sergeant to be laid to rest Jan. 7
Bradley, Illinois, Police Sergeant Marlene Rittmanic who was killed in the line of duty on Dec. 30, 2021 will be laid to rest Friday, Jan. 7, NewsChannel20.com reported. A visitation will be held for Rittmanic at 2-7 p.m. ...
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Michigan's first out gay man dies at 91
Jim Toy—the person widely considered to be Michigan's first openly gay man and one of its most prominent LGBTQ activists—passed away at age 91, MLive.com reported. Toy died on New Year's Day, said Washtenaw County Commissioner ...
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WORLD Trans model dies, museum exhibit, Tunisia case
April Ashley—reportedly the first Briton to undergo gender-confirmation surgery—has died at 86, according to an Out item that cited The Liverpool Echo. Ashley, who was born in Liverpool, was the first known trans model to appear ...
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LGBTQ travel expert Jeff Guaracino dies at 48
Philadelphia native, author and Visit Philadelphia President/CEO Jeff Guaracino died Dec. 28, following a long battle with cancer. He was 48. Guaracino worked to boost the economies of both his hometown and Atlantic City as head ...
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Former Democratic leader Harry Reid dies at 82
Harry Reid, the former Democratic Senate leader who spearheaded epic legislative battles through three decades in Congress, has died at age 82 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer, according to media reports. Reid rose from ...
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Human-rights champion Archbishop Desmond Tutu dies at 90
Archbishop Desmond Tutu—a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was known for his stances for human rights and against South Africa's white minority rule—died Dec. 26 at age 90. According to Reuters, the presidency conveyed news of ...
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PASSAGES Information technology specialist Erik Burns dies at 45
Tribune Media Service Delivery Vice President and former information technology (IT) project manager Erik Burns died Dec. 10 after a 13-month battle with stage four metastatic colon cancer. He was 45. ...
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Author/feminist bell hooks dies at 69
Acclaimed author and activist bell hooks died Dec. 15 at age 69. The writer (real name: Gloria Jean Watkins) was born in 1952 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, per NBC News. Her first published work, a book of ...
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Wisconsin LGBTQ+-rights activist Dick Wagner dies at 78
Longtime LGBTQ+-rights activist and onetime Dane County, Wisconsin, Supervisor Dick Wagner has died at age 78, NBC15.com reported. According to a friend, Wagner was found at tiny Kerr-McGee Triangle Park, which he helped create in the ...
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Author Anne Rice dies at 80
Writer Anne Rice, whose Interview With The Vampire sold more than 150 million copies, died at age 80 on Dec. 11, according to media reports. Her son Christopher Rice, an out gay man who is also ...
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PASSAGES Designer Virgil Abloh dies at 41
Designer Virgil Abloh—the first Black artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection and the founder of the Off-White label—died at the age of 41 after privately battling "a rare, aggressive form of cancer, cardiac angiosarcoma," a ...
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Broadway titan Stephen Sondheim dies at 91
Stephen Sondheim, one of the giants of Broadway songwriting, died Nov. 26 at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, according to media reports. He was 91. Among the works in the legend's oeuvre are Company (1970), Follies ...
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EXCLUSIVE: Family and friends mourn loss of Brianna Hamilton
Janiece Lewis said her older sister Brianna Hamilton was her first best friend. The two oldest of four girls, spending time together was, for them, "a different kind of love." In between playing Barbies and dress-up, ...
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Colin Powell dies from COVID-19 complications
Colin Powell—the first Black U.S. secretary of state, whose leadership in several Republican administrations helped shape the country's foreign policy in the last years of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st—died from ...
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Trans woman D'isaya Dior Monaee Smith, a victim of violence, dies
D'isaya Dior Monaee Smith was shot and killed Sept. 6 at the Prestige Motel in Dolton, Illinois. She was 27. A Human Rights Campaign report showed that, in 2020, a record 44 transgender, nonbinary or gender-nonconforming ...
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NATIONAL Carl Bean dies, LGBT History Month, military events, Dykes on Bikes
Archbishop Carl Bean—an openly gay former Motown singer, longtime AIDS activist and leader in the LGBTQ church movement—died at age 77, The New York Daily News reported. In a statement entitled "The Giant Sleeps," the Unity ...
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Former bishop who pushed for LGBTQ+ inclusion dies at 90
Retired Newark Bishop John Shelby Spong—a best-selling author and cleric known for his progressive theology and his support of women and LGBTQ+ clergy in The Episcopal Church—has died at age 90, Episcopal News Service reported. "It ...
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PASSAGES Pioneering lesbian business owner Susan Mazer dies
Susan Mazer died August 31 due to COVID-19 complications. She was 77. At the time of her death, Mazer was living in Port Saint Lucie, Florida with her wife Janet Norton. Mazer was born May 10, ...
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Celebration of life for Roman Buenrostro taking place Oct. 5
A celebration of life for the late Chicago advocate Roman Buenrostro will take place Tuesday, Oct. 5, 3-6 p.m., at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. Buenrostro was an LGBTQ- and HIV/AIDS-rights activist who passed away ...
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The National Black Justice Coalition mourns death of Pooh Johnson
--From a press release
SHREVEPORT, LA — The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) mourns the loss of Pooh Johnson, a 25-year-old Black gender-nonconforming person. Pooh was found shot to death inside a car early in the morning on August 23, ...
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PFLAG National mourns passing of past president Paulette Goodman
--From a press release
WASHINGTON PFLAGers everywhere mourn the death of Paulette Goodman, who served as PFLAG National President from 1988 until 1992. Goodman was born in a Jewish family, ...
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James Hormel, the first LGBTQ U.S. ambassador, dies
James Catherwood Hormel the first openly gay man to represent the United States as an ambassador died Aug. 13 at age 88. ...
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Bernie Hansen's gay-rights legacy remembered
Activist Arthur Johnston recalled the late 44th Ward Alderman Bernie Hansen as perhaps "the most unlikely gay-rights alderman." Johnston one of the activists involved with, among other endeavors, the push for the city's Human Rights Ordinance i ...
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Photographer/activist Ed Negron's funeral will take place Aug. 3
On his own Facebook page, one of the brothers of the late Chicago photographer/activist Ed Negron has revealed the details of his impending funeral. According to Leo Negron Rodriguez, Negron's funeral will take place at ...
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PASSAGES Writer, attorney, activist Takeia R. Johnson
The local organization Affinity Community Services announced the recent passing of Takeia R. Johnson. According to Johnson's LinkedIn profile, she was editor-in-chief and lead writer at Inclusion at Work as well as a Ph.D. student focusing ...
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Chicago photographer, activist Ed Negron dies [UPDATED]
Ed Negron an activist, Army veteran and substance-abuse counselor who served for many years as a dedicated bisexual volunteer, mentor, leader and advocate in the LGBTQ, Latino and recovering communities passed away ...
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PASSAGES Author, cultural theorist, scholar Lauren Berlant dies
Author, cultural theorist and scholar Lauren Berlant died June 28 in a Chicago hospice facility of a rare form of cancer. They were 63. Berlant (who used they/them pronouns professionally) was born Oct. 31, 1957 in ...
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Prominent lesbian educator/activist/author Sally Gearhart dies at 90
Sally Gearhart—the first out lesbian to receive a tenure-track position at San Francisco State University and a prominent LGBTQ-rights advocate—died July 14, according to The Bay Area Reporter, which cited an email Jean Crosby sent to ...
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PASSAGES Ray Marchman
Ray Marchman, a onetime Chicago resident, passed away in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on June 6. He was 87. According to an obituary on Dignity Memorial's website, Marchman was born in Miami in 1933—the only child of ...
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PASSAGES Fritzie Fritzshall, Auschwitz survivor, innovator in Holocaust education
--From a press release
As a Survivor of the Holocaust and the President of Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Fritzie Fritzshall devoted her life to combatting hatred and prejudice, inspiring people to become Upstanders instead of bystanders, and speaking ...
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Fifth annual Pulse Nightclub memorial in downstate Illinois on June 12
On Saturday, June 12, at 7 p.m. in Bloomington, Illinois, local organizations will remember the 49 lives lost at the Pulse Nightclub in 2016 with their fifth annual outdoor memorial service, according to a joint press ...
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NATIONAL Press secretary, LGBTQ passings, poll results, Pride items
Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made history as the first gay woman to lead a White House press briefing in the James S. Brady Briefing Room, and the second Black woman to do so, LGBTQ Nation ...
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Remembering Kay "Tobin" Lahusen
Much of LGBTQ history, and history in general, has been lost. Even after photography was invented, the lens (and pen) was often directed subjectively, documenting what the mainstream media thought were the significant moments of the ...
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White Party organizer Jeffrey Sanker dies
Gay circuit-party impresario Jeffrey Sanker owner of the Los Angeles-based White Party Entertainment company died May 28 after a long battle with liver cancer, the Los Angeles Blade reported. The Blade said ...
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PASSAGES Kay "Tobin" Lahusen, a founding mother of the gay rights movement, 91
Kay Lahusen, 91, died in gentle hospice care at Chester County Hospital on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, after a brief illness. She was born in Cincinnati in January 1930 and as an infant was adopted and ...
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NATIONAL Victory Institute, activists pass on, Mikayla Miller, Nina West
On May 2, The Victory Institute inducted 21 leaders to its newly formed LGBTQ Victory Hall of Fame, according to PrideSource.com. Twenty members were inducted as part of the founding class while U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin ...
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PASSAGES Social-justice activist, dominatrix Mistress Velvet dies
PASSAGES Social-justice activist, dominatrix Mistress Velvet dies By Carrie Maxwell Social-justice activist and dominatrix Mistress Velvet (who used they/them pronouns) died by suicide May 9 in Chicago. They were 33. ...
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PASSAGES Lesbian-feminist musician, activist Alix Dobkin dies
Lesbian singer-songwriter and feminist activist Alix Dobkin died May 19 due to complications from a brain aneurysm and stroke. She was 80. Dobkin who was known by many as the Head Lesbian was born Aug. 16, 1940 in ...
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Former Illinois Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood dies at 66
Corinne Wood, the former Illinois lieutenant governor under Gov. George Ryan, died after a 15-year battle with breast cancer, CBS Chicago reported. She was 66. Wood served as the state's first female lieutenant governor from 1999 ...
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Actress Olympia Dukakis dies at 89
Olympia Dukakis who won an Oscar for her supporting role in the 1987 hit Moonstruck and starred in Look Who's Talking and Mr. Holland's Opus as well as iterations of TV's Tales of the City died May 1 at her home in New York City ...
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PASSAGES: AIDS activist, anti-imperalist organizer Tryfan Morys Eibhlyn Llwyd
Longtime AIDS activist and anti-imperalist organizer Tryfan Morys Eibhlyn Llwyd (also known as Arawn Eibhlyn, and who uses the pronouns they/them/their) died March 3 in Louisville, Kentucky due to natural causes. They were 70. Llwyd was ...
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Body of 19-year-old Chicago Black trans woman found in June 2020, identified April 2021
On June 6, 2020, the body of an unidentified young Black trans person was found in an abandoned building at 7908 S Laflin in Chicago. https://twitter.com/KaylaraOwl/status/1292173435750277123 . Koko Nia Labeija was born 29 May 2001 in ...
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PASSAGES Retired Chicago Police Commander Nancy Y. Lipman dies
Retired Chicago Police Commander Nancy Y. Lipman died April 11 due to complications from ovarian cancer. She was 61. Lipman was born Jan. 21, 1960 in Chicago and graduated from Morgan Park High School. She also ...
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PASSAGES Donald Duane Slater
Donald Duane Slater, age 73, of Kalamazoo Michigan made his transition on April 8, 2021 in his home, of natural causes. Don worked in several bars in the 1970's and 80's. Among them the Glory Hole ...
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Longtime LGBTQ activist Julie Valloni dies
Longtime LGBTQ activist Julie Valloni died March 28 in Rockford, Illinois due to complications from a hip fracture. She was 80. Valloni was born July 12, 1940 and grew up in Chicago where she graduated from ...
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PASSAGES John Stephen Hunt
John Stephen Hunt—a writer, world literati and global human-rights activist based in Chicago—died March 17 of natural causes in Chicago. He was 85. Hunt came out as a 20-year-old gay man during his U.S. Army Service. ...
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Longtime Chicago LGBTQ, HIV/AIDS activist Roman Buenrostro dies
Longtime Chicago LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS activist Roman Buenrostro died March 25 due to complications from cancer. He was 54. Buenrostro was born Jan. 18, 1967 in Chicago. When his father retired, the family moved to Southern ...
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