The 17th annual Windy City Times 30 Under 30 Awards were held June 22 at Polo Cafe in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood. This was the first time the event was held on the South Side.
The event, held less than two weeks after the murder of 49 mostly Latinx and mostly LGBTQ people in Orlando, had both a somber and determined tone. Many honorees paid tribute to those lost in the Pulse nightclub mass shooting, honoring the lives of young black and brown people.
Hosts were Windy City Times Art Director Kirk Williamson and writer Jerry Nunn, and the awards were coordinated by Andrew Davis, managing editor of Windy City Times.
In addition to Polo Cafe, co-sponsors of the event were AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Chicago House, Center on Halsted and Howard Brown Health.
See full listing of 2016 winners here:
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/17th-Annual-30-Under-30-to-honor-youth-June-22/55635.html .
And a PDF of the Pride issue with the 30 Under 30 inside:
www.windycitymediagroup.com/images/publications/wct/2016-06-22/current.pdf .
CAPTION FOR LARGE PHOTO OF HONOREES: Front row: Alfredo Flores, Keisa Reynolds, Aisha Davis, Joe Olszewski, Nelson Rodriguez, Nathan Stevens, Parks Dunlap, Andrew Fortman, Forrest Linsell, Maria Pahl. Second row: Mika Munoz, Yanina Guevara, Liz Weck, Brittany Ellenberg, Meredith Montgomery. Third row: WCT Managing Editor Andrew Davis, WCT Art Director (and event co-host) Kirk Williamson, Arriana Salgado, Elijah McKinnon, Eric Amaya, Maxx Boykin, Jessica Paul (accepting on behalf of Luther Hughes), Christopher Pazdernik, Benjamin Di'Costa, Kara Ingelhart, WCT entertainment reporter (and event co-host) Jerry Nunn, Liz Franco. Not pictured: Kim Chi, Greg Cox, Kate Harrington-Rosen, Ali Hoefnagel, Tess Raser and Joey Wasserman.
Photos from the awards event by Hal Baim/Windy City Times