Dedicated in 2012, Chicago's Legacy Walk is the world's only outdoor LGBT history museum. This half-mile installation features bronze biographical memorials celebrating the lives of people like Leonard Bernstein, Audre Lorde, Sally Ride, James Baldwin, Jane Addams, Rudolf Nureyev, Frida Kahlo and Alan Turing. [ Feature coverage of upcoming dedication to Sylvia Rivera and Vito Russo at the link: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Legacy-Project-to-dedicate-Sylvia-Rivera-bronze-memorial/56752.html . ]
The Legacy Walk's markers serve as an "outdoor classroom" for bullied LGBTQ youth who come for guided tours in order to learn about historically significant positive LGBT role models whose contributions have made an incalculable difference in the world we share.
On Saturday, Oct. 15, they welcome two LGBT iconic activists to the Legacy Walktransgender icon Sylvia Rivera, from the Stonewall era; and gay film activist/historian Vito Russo, who co-founded both ACT UP ( AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power ) and GLAAD ( Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ). Their considerable legacies will soon be added to the 35 stories of achievement that already line the streetscape.
This all-day tribute will feature legendary gay activist Cleve Jones, Chicago transgender spokesperson Myles Brady-Davis, Emmy-winning writer-producer-actor Bruce Vilanch and trans pioneer Judy Bowenwiener, a close personal friend of Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, from the post-Stonewall era. Bowenwiener will be talking about their involvement as three trans women in New York's Gay Activist Alliance ( GAA ). She will be joined by Phillip Raia, who worked with both Russo and Rivera in GAA in the 1970s. Never have all these people been brought together for a celebration quite like this.
The event will be in three parts:
1-3 p.m.: Opening Reception and Program, at Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St.
Transgender activist Myles Brady-Davis of Howard Brown Health, gay activist Cleve Jones and NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt will be featured in "Reflecting on the Evolution of Activism across the Decades."
3-4 p.m.: Legacy Walk Induction Ceremonies at the Northalsted streetscape, featuring the LGBTQ youth from Lyons Township High School.
Sylvia Rivera Bronze Memorial Dedication, 3656 N. Halsted St.: Personal reflections of Judy Bowenwiener and Phillip Raia, Sylvia Rivera's friends
Vito Russo Bronze Memorial Dedication, 3411 N. Halsted St., with personal reflections of Bruce Vilanch, Emmy Award-winning writer-producer-actor
4-6 p.m.: Celebration Party, Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted St., "Building a New Legacy for the Future of Our Past."
Tickets for this multi-part event are available for $30, $50 and $100, and include light appetizers and variable bar service. There will also be raffle prizes and door prizes. LGBT people from throughout the metropolitan area are expected to turn out to celebrate this unique Chicago cultural institutionbuilt by our community, for our communityin this salute to the contributions of LGBT people.
Tickets are available at www.eventbrite.com/e/legacy-walk-dedication-v-tickets-27530936773 .