A series of 40+ markers displayed along North Halsted (from Melrose to Waveland) "commemorating the life and work of notable LGBTQ individuals whose achievements have helped shape the world."
For further information, see the Legacy Project's website: https://legacyprojectchicago.org/legacy-walk
"Babe" Didrikson Zaharias
Bisexual U.S. Gold Medal Winning Olympic Athlete
(1911 - 1956)
Babe Didrikson’s contributions to women’s competitive athletics were unprecedented. She held national, Olympic and World records in track and . . . — — Map (db m184993) HM
Alan Mathison Turning
Gay British Mathemetcian and Computer Scientist
(1912 - 1954)
During the Second World War, Alan Turing worked at Britain's code-breaking center where he was responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. Using . . . — — Map (db m185941) HM
Alvin Ailey
(Modern Dance Pioneer)
(1931 - 1989)
Born in poverty in rural Texas, where racial segregation was still in full force, Alvin Ailey grew into a gifted choreographer who drew inspiration from African American culture and . . . — — Map (db m182292) HM
Audre Lorde
Lesbian U.S. Poet and Activist
(1934 - 1992)
"It is not our differences that divide us. it is our inability
to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences."
- Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde was a black . . . — — Map (db m181011) HM
Barbara Jordan
(Lesbian U.S. Congresswoman)
(1936 - 1996)
Barbara Jordan grew up in the historically black Fifth Ward of Houston, Texas. She attended segregated public schools, and an all-black college, where she graduated magna cum . . . — — Map (db m183309) HM
Bayard Rustin
(Gay U.S. Civil Rights Activist)
(1912 - 1987)
On the forefront of A. Philip Randolph’s efforts to end segregation in the Armed Forces, Bayard Rustin was instrumental in obtaining President Harry S. Truman’s July 1948 . . . — — Map (db m180921) HM
Billy Strayhorn
Gay U.S. Composer, Arranger and Pianist
(1915 - 1967)
“If you want something hard enough, it just gets done.”
- Billy Strayhorn
Billy Strayhorn studied music at the Pittsburgh Music Institute. While . . . — — Map (db m185620) HM
COLE PORTER
Gay American Composer
(1893 – 1964)
Cole Porter remains one of America's all-time greatest composers and songwriters
one of the few who wrote both the lyrics and the music. His hits include the
musical comedies the . . . — — Map (db m180700) HM
David Kato Kisule
Ugandan LGBT Activist
(1964 - 2011)
David Kato was born to the Kisule clan in its ancestral village of Nakawala. He first acknowledged his sexual orientation while teaching in Johannesburg. In 2005 he became . . . — — Map (db m181523) HM
Dr. Margaret "Mom" Chung
(Chinese-American Physician)
(1889 - 1959)
Born in Santa Barbara, California, Dr. Chung was the first known American-born Chinese woman to become a physician. After completing her internship and residency in . . . — — Map (db m184986) HM
Dr. Sally K. Ride
Physicist, Astronaut, and Activist
(1951 – 2012)
"When I was a girl, I had a teacher who encouraged my interest in science.
She challenged me to be curious, to ask questions,
and to think about things for myself" . . . — — Map (db m180871) HM
Dr. Tom Waddell
Gay U.S. Athlete and Physician
Founder of the Gay Games
(1937 - 1987)
Entering college on a track scholarship to pursue a pre-med major, Tom Waddell earned his M.D. in 1965. Drafted into the Army in 1966, Waddell . . . — — Map (db m183328) HM
Dra. Antonia Pantoja
(Lesbian Puerto Rican Educator and Activist)
(1922 - 2002)
Antonia Pantoja overcame the poverty and circumstances of her childhood to become a schoolteacher who focused on the educational needs of disadvantaged . . . — — Map (db m181518) HM
Fr. Mychal Judge
"The Saint of 9/11"
(1933 - 2001)
"Lord, take me where you want me to go. Let me meet who you want me to meet. Tell me
what you want me to say. And keep me out of your way."
– Fr. Mychal Judge
Fr. . . . — — Map (db m182060) HM
Frank Kameny
LGBT Civil Rights Pioneer
(1925 - 2011)
Institutionalized anti-gay bigotry during the McCarthy-Era drove astronomer Frank Kameny from his job at the U.S. Army Map Service and into the pantheon of modern LGBT activism. He . . . — — Map (db m184872) HM
FREDDIE MERCURY
Gay Rock & Roll Superstar
(1946 - 1991)
Born in 1946, to Bombay-born Parsi parents living in Zanzibar, Farrokh Bulsara's
musical talent first revealed itself during his early years as a pupil at an
English-style . . . — — Map (db m180598) HM
Frida Kahlo
(Bisexual Mexican Artist)
1907 - 1954
As a child Frida Kahlo was deeply affected by the armed struggles she witnessed on the streets of Mexico City; so much so that later in her life she would claim 1910 – the official . . . — — Map (db m182068) HM
Harvey Milk
(1st Openly Gay Man Elected to Public Office in the U.S.)
(1930 - 1978)
Harvey Milk, a U.S. Navy Veteran who served during the Korean War, was the first widely known and nationally recognized openly gay man . . . — — Map (db m186501) HM
James Baldwin
(Gay U.S. Author)
(1924 - 1987)
The preeminent African American intellectual of his era, James Baldwin wrote 17 books of prose, essays, plays, and poetry – works that had a profound influence on the development of a . . . — — Map (db m181284) HM
Jane Addams
(Lesbian U.S. Social Justice Pioneer and Author)
(1860 - 1935)
"America's future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence, we must watch what we teach, and how we . . . — — Map (db m181578) HM
Josephine Baker
Bisexual Civil Rights Activist and Entertainer
(1906 - 1975)
"Unfortunately, history has shown us that brotherhood must be learned, when it should be natural."
- Josephine Baker
Born to a humble . . . — — Map (db m181092) HM
Keith Haring
(Gay U.S. Artist)
(1958 - 1990)
In 1978, Keith Haring moved to New York to attend the School of Visual Arts. Energized by the influences he encountered, he developed a graffiti-inspired style emphasizing the line. . . . — — Map (db m182912) HM
Lorraine Hansberry
Lesbian U.S. Feminist, Activist and Author
(1930 - 1965)
Born the daughter of a middle class Chicago businessman, Lorraine Hansberry’s life in many ways mirrored her art and dedication to social justice. After . . . — — Map (db m181847) HM
Marsha P. Johnson
Transgender African American Activist
(1945 - 1992)
"If a transvestite doesn't say I'm gay and proud and I'm a transvestite... nobody else is going to say it for them."
- Marsha P. Johnson
Malcolm . . . — — Map (db m181340) HM
Oscar Wilde
(British Dramatist, Poet, and Critic)
(1854 - 1900)
By the age of 40 Oscar Wilde was famous in Europe and the U.S. for penning The Picture of Dorian Gray, his influential political tract The Soul of a Man . . . — — Map (db m181022) HM
Pauli Murray
Non-binary African American Legal Scholar
(1910-1985)
Anna Pauline Murray began to grapple with sexual orientation and gender identity
while attending Hunter College in New York City. Murray adopted the . . . — — Map (db m188505) HM
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Gay Russian Classical Composer
(1840 – 1893)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was raised in a society that offered no public music
education. In spite of his aptitude for music, his parents sent him to a boarding . . . — — Map (db m180738) HM
Reinaldo Arenas
(Gay Cuban Author and Activist)
(1943 - 1990)
Born into rural poverty in Cuba, in 1959 he became an early supporter of the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power. But Arenas became increasingly disenchanted . . . — — Map (db m185932) HM
Ruth Ellis
Businesswoman and Senior Lesbian Activist
(1899 - 2000)
Ruth Ellis was born in Springfield, Illinois to parents who were conceived in the last years of slavery. Her life spanned through moments of great turmoil and . . . — — Map (db m182819) HM
Sgt. Leonard Matlovich
(Gay U.S. Military Pioneer)
(1943 - 1988)
Leonard Matlovich followed in his father's footsteps and volunteered for service in the Air Force. He served three tours of duty in Vietnam where he received a Bronze . . . — — Map (db m183658) HM
Stonewall
The Riot that Started a Revolution
June 28, 1969
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, law enforcement officials kept track of suspected homosexuals and the places that catered to them. Police regularly raided bars, seizing . . . — — Map (db m189475) HM
SYLVESTER
Gender Non-Conforming African-American Disco Singer
(1947 – 1988)
Sylvester James was born into a family of modest means in Los Angeles where, as a
Pentecostal church child, he become known for performing Aretha . . . — — Map (db m180602) HM
Sylvia Rivera
Transgender Hispanic Activist
(1951-2002)
"Hell hath no fury like a drag queen scorned."
- Sylvia Rivera
Sylvia Rivera was born an effeminate Puerto Rican/Venezuelan boy in New York City. She began . . . — — Map (db m181344) HM
The first U.S. law enacted to combat hate crimes – The Civil Rights Act of 1871 – tried to curtail Ku Klux Klan violence during the Post-Civil War Reconstruction Era. It would be another one hundred twenty years before the first federal . . . — — Map (db m188565) HM
The Pink Triangle
Gays in the Holocaust
World War II
Before the Nazi era, Berlin had been home to a vibrant gay and lesbian culture. At the conclusion of World War II, the Allies came upon Nazi concentration camps and other sites of . . . — — Map (db m189187) HM
Two Spirit
(Native American and Canadian Nation GLBT People)
Among both Native Americans and Canadian First Nations people there have existed, for untold centuries, individuals whose gender identity, sexual expression, and societal . . . — — Map (db m181857) HM
Vito Russo
Gay U.S. Activist and Film Historian
(1946 - 1990)
"I don’t know what was different about the way I was raised or the way I reacted, but I never once, not for a second, believed that it was wrong to be gay, that it was . . . — — Map (db m185212) HM
Walt Whitman
Gay U.S. Poet
(1819 - 1892)
Unlike many other poets, Whitman came from the working class and celebrated its unique contributions to American ideals. His groundbreaking Leaves of Grass was released in eight . . . — — Map (db m189394) HM
