Veteran activist Rick Garcia has joined the staff of The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA), Executive Director Anthony Martinez confirmed March 6.
Garcia, who was controversially ousted from Equality Illinois in late 2010, has been active with TCRA throughout the past year.
Garcia has been named the organization's policy director and will be heading up TCRA's new "Equal Marriage Illinois" project, according to a statement put out by TCRA.
"Rick has been a key leader on every gay legislative initiative since the 1980's," said Martinez in a statement. "From Illinois' first human rights ordinance to civil unions, he has been shaping the strategy and leading the policy fight."
Garcia was one of the "Gang of Four" who pushed through the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance in 1988. He was the founding executive director of Equality Illinois, from which he was later fired.
According to a statement, Garcia's relationship with TCRA "started organically."
"They focus on the issues and the fight for equality and they operate statewide," said Garcia. "They are doing the heavy lifting."