Danny Kopelson is heading west—bound for Palm Springs, California—leaving behind a multimillion-dollar legacy to Chicago's LGBT community.
Escaping the polar vortex is part of the reason for his departure, too.
"Chicago is an amazing city and will forever be my hometown," he said. "Moving has been one of the most difficult things I have ever done, [but] I think now is the time for a big change in my life. I want to shake things up and expand that seven-mile radius between Evanston and Belmont" that has long been his local home.
Kopelson, 56, who now lives in Lake View East, is a consultant who specializes in marketing, communications, public relations, special events and fundraising. He has worked for non-profits, for-profits and the State of Illinois at the governor's Office.
Kopelson, who is openly gay, graduated from Evanston Township High School and has lived in a seven-mile radius his entire life, from Evanston down to Belmont Avenue on the south.
He plans to continue working in his current fields at a non-profit or for-profit organization in California, either full-time or as a consultant.
"I will miss the many friends and relationships I have developed over many years," in Chicago, he said. "I have friends going back to kindergarten. I'll be back often. I suspect I'll see lots of Chicago friends visiting me in Palm Springs during the winter."
Kopelson was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2000. He was named the Advocate of the Year award-winner by the AIDS Legal Council in 2007, and in 2012 he received a Golden Trumpet Award from the Publicity Club of Chicago. He also has been honored with a Special Recognition Award from the Illinois Arts Council and the Show of Concern Award from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago ( AFC ).
Kopelson's local legacy dates back decades.
"It all started at Marshall Field's advertising, where I landed my first job out of grad school," he said. "[Marshall] Field's bravely chose HIV/AIDS and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago as its primary charity, and it was the first retailer in the U.S. to do this."
In 1987, Marshall Field's held an AIDS benefit at the Chicago Theater titled, "The Show of Concern,' starring Angela Lansbury, Chita Rivera, Peter Allen, Colleen Dewhurst, Jerry Herman, Leslie Uggams, the Windy City Gay Chorus, Chicago Gay Men's Chorus, Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theater, Chicago Children's Choir and even Oprah Winfrey. It raised an amazing $1.3 million split between AmfAR and AFC. "It was an unbelievable evening for a [then]-new virus: AIDS," Kopelson said.
"During this time I was a liaison between Field's and Amy Maggio, the director of development at AFC. When Dayton's bought Field's, we all lost our jobs. Amy Maggio, who has been my lifelong mentor and friend, hired me as the development associate at AFC working primarily with fundraising events."
He now laughs, as that's when he told Maggio "I'm not going to be an activist."
But, he added, "Being openly gay and working in HIV/AIDS, I quickly became an accidental activist. Activism is not limited to marching down the street with protest banners, which I also have done, but it includes talking to people about HIV/AIDS, human rights, raising awareness and/or money or anything that moves people to support your issues."
Kopelson has since helped raise $10 million for HIV/AIDS and LGBT, human rights causes.
"The two things I am best known for, been involved with the longest, and have had the greatest impact on my life and the community are Dance for Life and the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus. I was a founder of both," Kopelson said.
The Chicago Gay Men's Chorus has its roots in the Windy City Gay Chorus ( WCGC ). Members of WCGC had just performed in New York and chose not to return to New York for the first-ever gay choral festival named, Come Out and Sing Together ( COAST, now GALA Choruses ), he said. "A number of Windy City members felt strongly about having Chicago represented in New York, so the WCGC artistic director, Richard Garrin, said, 'If you want to go, form your own chorus and go.' So the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus was born. "How lucky that was, as Chicago has benefitted by having two successful gay men's choruses for more than three decades," Kopelson said.
He still remembers the first rehearsal with CGMC, held at the Broadway United Methodist Church at Broadway and Roscoe in Lakeview. The church burned down afterwards.
"Another memory [came] shortly thereafter—in New York at COAST, [wearing] our black sequined vests and singing pop music and show tunes. We were the only and first-ever gay 'show chorus' in the country."
Sadly, Kopelson added, "for the next 20-plus years, AIDS dominated our existence. Weekly, chorus members and their partners were dying. Members in their 20s attended rehearsals with walkers and Karposi's sarcoma sores all over their bodies. CGMC became a second family as we loved, supported and sang for our lives. We formed a small ensemble called ENCORE! to sing at many memorials, funerals and AIDS benefits."
Kopelson's 30-year legacy with CGMC has included being on the board, and leading its marketing, public relations and fund-raising committees. He also worked with Ald. Tom Tunney to get CGMC to sing the National Anthem at Wrigley Field, and more.
"I believe everyone associated with CGMC is, in their own right, an activist. Perhaps [just an] accidental activists," he said. "Through the chorus, we are all provided the luxury to share our LGBTA lives with our families, our co-workers, our friends and our audiences. Being out and visible has proven to be one of the most important political things we can do.
"Thirty years ago, just standing on a stage with the word gay in your name was a political act. Today we get invited to sing on the stage of Millennium Park with the symphony orchestra or to perform nationally on WGN-TV for the family-oriented Thanksgiving Day Parade.
"Our activism through music changes minds and hearts."
Kopelson was working as the development associate at AFC years ago when the phone rang—and Keith Elliott, a dancer at Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theatre, was on the line with an idea for a dance performance AIDS benefit. After meeting Elliott in person, the mission of this benefit became clear: To raise awareness and funds for HIV/AIDS while promoting the art of dance in Chicago, he said.
The first Dance for Life premiered at the 400-seat Organic Theatre in June, 1991. "We were shocked as every seat was sold out and there was a line around the block to buy tickets," Kopelson said. "The event grew and grew until we were selling out the 1,500-seat Skyline Stage and Harris Theaters. On our 20th anniversary, we moved to our new home, Roosevelt University's Auditorium Theater, selling nearly 3,000 tickets.
"Over the years, Dance for Life has supported [more than] 30 HIV/AIDS service-providing organizations and showcased over 30 Chicago-based professional dance companies."
The Dancer's Fund was established in 1994 to provide emergency financial assistance to professional dancers and administrators.
Dance for Life has blossomed into the largest dance performance-based HIV/AIDS fundraising events in the Midwest. A 20th Anniversary documentary produced by HMS Media airing on WTTW won a Chicago Emmy. In total, around $5 million supporting HIV/AIDS programs in Chicago has been raised through the event.
"I never could have imagined what took place over the past 25 years," with Dance For Life, he said.
Kopelson also worked at a pharmaceutical ad agency as the account supervisor, launching the HIV/AIDS medication from Abbott Labs called Kaletra. He led the consumer, professional and international sides of the account.
"The 1980s was a time when many families learned their sons were gay and also dying of complications of HIV/AIDS," Kopelson said.
"Thankfully, I was spared and I'm still here. I guess it's a good thing that I can hardly remember being in this situation. Being HIV-positive and working for Marshall Field's changed my path in life from what might have been a career in product advertising. I've been so lucky to spend my career doing something I believe in, something many others wanted nothing to do with. It was back then that my entire purpose in life changed for the better. I'm very proud that I have been able to make a real difference. A close friend of mine asked me what it felt like to be HIV-positive. I could have answered, 'It's like living with a cloud over my head,' or something like that. But [instead], I thought really hard and replied, 'I can't really answer that question because I don't know what it is like not to be HIV-positive, as I have been positive my entire adult life.'"
