 |  | David Aaron & John Bash David Aaron (below) and Johnny Bash are live entertainment promoters in Chicago, with long ties to the club scene, going back to the 1970s.
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|  | Sam Bezanis Bezanis has donated his design services to many gay, AIDS and mainstream civil-rights groups, including the ACLU. | |
|  | Michelle Bonnarens Bonnarens is a former Chicagoan now living in Germany. Her activism included fighting back against bigots at the University of Chicago in the 1980s. | |
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|  | Val Camilletti Val has owned Val's Halla records in Oak Park since the 1970s. She is a pioneer in women's music and culture for the Chicago area. | |
|  | CC Carter Carter is a poet, writer and cultural activist, especially known for her POW WOW poetry slams. | |
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|  | Aldo Castillo Castillo is an artist and founder of the Aldo Castillo Gallery. He has been openly gay and openly HIV-positive for many years. | |
|  | Ann Christophersen Christophersen is co-founder of Women & Children First Bookstore and a critical volunteer and supporter of LGBT and feminist causes. | |
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|  | Randy Curwen In the mid-1970s, Curwen was instrumental in getting the Tribune to rewrite its stylebook and treat the subject of homosexuality in a fairer manner. | |
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|  | Randy Duncan Duncan is a legend in the Chicago dance and choreography scene, known for his skills as well as his generosity. | |
|  | Jean Durkin & Paula Walowitz Durkin (left) and Walowitz are partners, and were married in Canada soon after it became legal to do so. They are cultural activists. | |
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|  | Keith Elliot Elliot is a former dancer who has worked on a wide range of AIDS and gay benefits, including as co-founder of the Dance for Life annual gala benefits | |
|  | Eugenia Fawcett Fawcett came out in the 1940s in Chicago as a student at the University of Chicago. She was with her partner Mary from 1955 until Mary's death. | |
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|  | Peggy Garner Garner is a former Chicagoan now living in San Francisco. During her time in Chicago, she volunteered with numerous groups. | |
|  | Sanford Gaylord Gaylord is an actor, creative activist and writer based in Chicago. He was a co-founding member of A Real Read. | |
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|  | Mailik Gillani & Jamil Khoury Gillani and Khoury are co-founders of Silk Road Theatre, doing pioneering work on diversity issues in the gay and theater communities. | |
|  | Mailik Gillani Gillani and partner Jamil Khoury are co-founders of Silk Road Theatre, doing pioneering work on diversity issues in the gay and theater communities. | |
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|  | Diane Gomez Gomez has been active in both the cultural and sports parts of Chicago's gay community. | |
|  | Carole Goodwin Goodwin is an Oak Park-based writer and she co-owned an important bookstore there for many years, Left Bank Bookstall. She is a long-time activist. | |
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|  | Vernita Gray Gray has been active on gay rights since the late 1960s. She has been part of a wide range of groups and works on anti-violence issues. | |
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|  | Joel Hall Hall has been a pioneering openly gay activist since the 1970s. He founded the Joel Hall Dancers. | |
|  | Jorjet Harper Harper is a writer, editor, musician, artist and more. She has been part of Chicago's lesbian community since the 1970s. | |
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|  | Juarez Hawkins Hawkins is a Chicago-based lesbian artist who has contributed her work to many causes.
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|  | Ted Hoerl & Steve Scott Both Hoerl (left) and Scott are active theater professionals in Chicago, with long ties to the gay community. They have been together since Nov. 1, 1 | |
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|  | Ted Hoerl Hoerl is an Actor-Director/ Adjunct Professor of Acting CCPA at Roosevelt University. In the 1980s he owned Opal Station, a popular gay bar. | |
|  | Chris Johnson Christine Johnson is a co-founder of Metis Press, Publisher of Lesbian Feminist Literature, and a founding member of the national Women In Print netwo | |
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|  | Art Johnston & Jose A. Pena Johnston and Pena are co-owners of Sidetrack bar, which has been much-honored for its contributions to GLBT and AIDS charities. | |
|  | Art Johnston Johnston is co-owner of Sidetrack bar in Chicago, and a long-time activist on GLBT and AIDS issues. | |
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|  | Lola Lai Jong Lola Lai Jong has been important cultural and activist pioneer on lesbian and Asian Pacific Islander LGBT issues in Chicago and internationally. | |
|  | Corinne Kawecki Kawecki and partner Maureen Sweeney have been active in support of LGBT causes for many years, including with the Lesbian Community Cancer Project. | |
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|  | Jamil Khoury Jamil Khoury and partner Malik Gillani are co-founders of Silk Road Theatre, doing pioneering work on diversity issues in the gay and theater communit | |
|  | Richard Knight Knight is a writer, musician, and all-around performer, working in and outside Chicago's gay community since the 1970s. | |
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|  | Danny Kopelson Kopelson has been a key staff member and volunteer for numerous gay and AIDS organizations, including AIDS Foundation of Chicago. | |
|  | Eileen Kreutz Before becoming active in the Chicago lesbian community, including as co-founder of critical groups, Kreutz was part of the peace movement. | |
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|  | Deb Lake & Terri Pease Lake and Pease have been partners since Oct. 10, 1998. Lake is a minister and author, Pease is a domestic violence and trauma consultant. | |
|  | Janice Layne Layne is a writer and activist, working on a range of LGBT and AIDS issues. It was Layne's idea for the LGBT community to march in the Bud Billikin Pa | |
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|  | Michael Leppen Leppen is among Chicago's most important philanthropists, supporting a wide range of gay, AIDS and human-rights causes. | |
|  | Lynnell Long Long is a writer, performer and poet who was part of A Real Reed and a columnist writing on intersex and gender-identity issues for BLACKlines newspap | |
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|  | Judith Markowitz Markowitz has been active in community culture and events since the 1970s. | |
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|  | Amy Matheny Matheny is an actor, radio host, and senior account representative for Windy City Media Group. She is executive producer of Windy City Queercast. | |
|  | Pat McCombs McCombs has been an integral part of Chicago's LGBT community since the 1970s, when she first fought back against racial carding in the bars... | |
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|  | Susan McConnell Susan McConnell and partner Beth O'Neil are long-time activists on women's LGBT and AIDS issues.
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|  | Steve McDonough Steve McDonough and his partner Dan Smith have broken new TV ground as the Hearty Boys. | |
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|  | Jill Metz Metz has practiced law since 1978, with many gay clients. She has volunteered with numerous gay organizations. | |
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|  | Mary Morten Morten has worked on a diverse range of projects in the feminist and LGBT communities. | |
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|  | Kathy Munzer Munzer was a long-time member of the Mountain Moving Coffeehouse collective, producing hundreds of women's music and culture events. | |
|  | Yasmin Nair Nair is an academic, activist and writer, and was a member of Queer to the Left. | |
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|  | Ifti Nasim Nasim was born in Pakistan and has been active on gay Southeast Asian issues in Chicago. | |
|  | Mona Noriega Noriega has been active on GLBT and Latina political and cultural issues since the 1970s. | |
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|  | Beth O'Neil Beth O'Neil was a key part of the founding of women's groups in the 1970s. | |
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|  | Achy Obejas Obejas is the award-winning author of Days of Awe, Memory Mambo, and We Came all the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?. She was born in Hava | |
|  | Dwight Okita Dwight Okita is an openly gay Japanese American writer in Chicago. | |
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|  | Nick Patricca Patricca is professor emeritus of theater at Loyola University, playwright in residence at Victory Gardens Theater, and artistic associate at Bailiwic | |
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|  | Mary Patten Mary Patten is a visual artist, videomaker, writer, educator, occasional curator, and long-time community/political activist. | |
|  | Rick Paul Paul is founder of Lionheart gay theatre, a pioneering company started in the late 1970s to produce gay works. | |
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|  | Terri Pease Pease is a domestic violence and trauma consultant.
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|  | Jose A. Pena Pena is co-owner and video director of Sidetrack bar. He is a video pioneer, and donates his time and energy to numerous causes. | |
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|  | Nancy Poore Poore co-founded Helaine Victoria Press in the 1970s and was active for decades on lesbians issues in Chicago. | |
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|  | Jerry Pritikin Pritikin is an athlete and photographer who has documented the Chicago and San Francisco gay communities for several decades. | |
|  | Otis Richardson Richardson is an artist, filmmaker, and activist with involvement in several key LGBT and African-American LGBT organizations. | |
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|  | Harriet Ross Ross is an ally of the community, and a former dancer and manager of dance groups. She is a co-founder of the Dance for Life AIDS charity event. | |
|  | Jane Saks Saks is Executive Director of the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media, Columbia College Chicago. | |
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|  | Steve Scott Scott is active as a director and teacher in Chicago's theater community. | |
|  | Linda Shear & Windflower Linda Shear is a former Chicago musician, founder of the first open lesbian band in U.S., and Windflower is her partner. | |
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|  | Linda Shear Linda Shear is a former Chicago musician, founder of the first open lesbian band in the U.S. | |
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|  | Starla Sholl Sholl is a social worker in full-time private practice, with a large LGB clientelle. She has volunteered with several LGBT groups. | |
|  | Art Sims Art "Chat Daddy" Sims is a relationship advice expert who helps both straight and gay people. As an openly gay man, he breaks down barriers.
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|  | Patrick Sinozich Sinozich is a nationally renowned director of choral groups, including gay choruses in Chicago.
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|  | Art Smith Smith is a world-renowned chef with a popular restaurant and cookbook, and is well known for his work as Oprah's chef.
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|  | Dan Smith As one-half of the Hearty Boys, Smith and his partner Steve McDonough have broken new TV ground as top chefs and philanthropists. | |
|  | Max Smith Max Smith has been a gay activist since the 1970s, including on media, health and political issues. | |
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|  | Byron Stewart Stewart is an actor, cultural pioneer and diversity trainer. | |
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|  | Kathleen Thompson Thompson's involvement in the lesbian community includes opening the city's first feminist bookstore in the early 1970s. | |
|  | Maida Tilchen Tilchen was an LGBT activist in Bloomington, Ind. in the '70s; a journalist on lesbian pulp novels, women's music and lit, and lesbian Jewish issues. | |
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|  | Paula Walowitz Walowitz is a performer, singing out lesbian music since the 1970s. | |
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|  | Vera Washington Washington is an HIV/AIDS counselor, party promoter through Executive Sweet, and longtime worker on LGBT youth issues. | |
|  | Donna Weems Weems is a cultural and political activist and long-time Chicagoan who recently retired to Mexico. | |
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