Mayor Daley presented the honors at the 15th Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame Nov. 1—still the only municipally sanctioned GLBT Hall of Fame in the world. #1 Daley with Mayor's liaison Bill Greaves. #2 Past inductees Richard Gray ( left ) and Gary Chichester ( right ) with 2005 inductee Rev. Juan Reed. #3 Friend of the community, Merry Mary. #4 Alexandra Billings with partner Chrisanne Blankenship-Billings and more. Photos by Tracy Baim
Mayor Richard Daley was in high spirits at the 15th annual Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame induction ceremony Nov. 1 at the Chicago Cultural Center. Daley and others spoke about contributions of the GLBT community in Chicago, and mentioned the upcoming 2006 Gay Games. Gary Chichester presented the mayor with a Gay Games VII shirt.
The Chicago Commission on Human Relations' Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues hosted the event. The honorees:
— Alexandra Scott Billings (actor), 43, for her performance achievements as a transgender artist onstage and on TV, her example as a person living with AIDS, her educational and fundraising work to combat AIDS, and her work with About Face Youth Theatre.
— Megan Carney (writer, director and producer), 35, for her illumination of LGBTQ youth issues and other social justice concerns through About Face Youth Theatre and other performance vehicles.
— Aldo Castillo (artist and curator), 49, for his promotion of Latin American art and artists and for his human-rights activism in AIDS and political organizations.
— John D'Emilio (historian) 57, historian, for pioneering research that has enriched academic study of the sexual-minority past, helped to make Chicago a national center of such scholarship, and social activism, including historical work that was cited by the Supreme Court in its landmark 2003 Lawrence v. Texas decision.
— Mike McHale (attorney and judicial candidate), 41, for service as an openly gay Cook County assistant state's attorney and for activism in neighborhood organizations, gay sports groups, and Equality Illinois.
— Jim Pickett (writer and activist), 39, for more than 10 years of leadership as an openly HIV-positive gay man in organizing against HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, STDs, and homophobic politics and for support of the LGBT arts community in the press.
— The Rev. Juan Reed (priest) 57, for his example as an openly gay African-American clergyman on the West Side, for leading a parish (St. Martin's) that openly welcomes LGBT persons, and for providing pastoral support to men living with HIV and AIDS.
— C. Michael Savage (social work executive and religious activist), 1952-2004, for leading programs that served such groups as the homeless, the addicted, low-income persons with HIV/AIDS, immigrants, and the medically needy as well as leading Dignity, the gay and lesbian Roman Catholic organization.
— Catherine Sikora (photographer and activist), 54, for advocacy of laws against discrimination because of gender identity or sexual orientation and for images of the transgender community.
— Lawrence E. Sloan (theatrical director and fundraiser), 1959-1995, for achievements at the Goodman Theatre and Remains Theatre and for serving as the first executive director of Season of Concern.
— Equality Illinois, for 13 years of supporting the civil rights of LGBT Illinois residents, which has included help in passing the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance ) and leadership of the campaign to include sexual orientation in the Illinois Human Rights Act , effective Jan. 1, 2006).
— Test Positive Aware Network, for 18 years of providing HIV-positive individuals with group services led by other HIV-positive persons, offering up-to-date HIV treatment information and publishing the internationally known Positively Aware magazine.
— Merry Mary (friend of community), for more than 25 years of volunteer service as a Lakeview resident and ally to such groups as Howard Brown Health Center, NAMES Project, Chicago Gay Men's Chorus, Windy City Gay Chorus and Vital Bridges' Groceryland Pantry.
— State Sen. Carol Ronen, 60, for service as a friend to the community through two decades in the Democratic Party, the Illinois General Assembly, and nonprofit groups in support of human rights.