Patrick Finnessy, Ph.D. is the Director of the Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns at the University of Illinois at Chicago. An educator and activist for twenty years, Dr. Finnessy teaches, researches, publishes, and challenges. The author of a curriculum guide for the anthology Growing Up Gay/Growing Up Lesbian, his work often examines the intersections of school curriculum, identity, and sexuality. A highly recruited presenter, he has also led workshops on LGBT issues to audiences in Asia, South America, Europe, and across the United States.

Iakovos Mesaritis is a native of the Mediterranean island-state of Cyprus. He has also lived in Greece, South Africa, Thailand, Switzerland, Florida, Illinois, and Canada. His undergraduate degree was obtained in Switzerland and his Master of Business Administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago. His interests are in international hospitality and human resource management. He has presented on Cypriot same-sex sexuality as well as queer immigration issues as someone in a binational relationship. He married his partner, Patrick Finnessy, in Greece in 2007.