The Legacy Walk an international, multi-cultural installation will consist of a series of 18" x 24" cast bronze plaques affixed to the celebrated "Rainbow Pylons" which define the stretch known as the "Northalsted Corridor" as the center of Chicago's diverse GLBT population. Each plaque will bear a laser-cast image of an inductee along with a 300-word biographical paragraph that explores the individual's contributions.
The Inaugural dedication will take place on Oct. 11, 2012.
Download the keepsake walking map and plaques diagram at
www.windycitymediagroup.com/pdf/LegacyWalkingMap1.pdf .
Full information at
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Coming-Out-Day-Legacy-Walk-to-bring-GLBT-history-to-Halsted-/39421.html .
Tickets at
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Dedication_Tickets.html .
2012 INDUCTEES
JAMES BALDWIN
"Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced."
An award-winning Gay African-American author of Go Tell It On The Mountain and Giovanni's Room. www.legacyprojectchicago.org/James_Baldwin.html
HARVEY MILK
"If a bullet should go through my head let that bullet go through every closet door."
Civil Rights icon, an openly Gay man elected to a public office in the U.S. before being assassinated. www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Harvey_Milk.html
JANE ADDAMS
"The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live."
Lesbian Nobel Prize-winning social justice pioneer, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Jane_Addams.html
BARBARA JORDAN
"What the people want is very simple they want an America as good as its promise."
Lesbian, first African-American woman elected to Congress from a southern state; awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1997. www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Barbara_Jordan.html
CHRISTINE JORGENSEN
"The answer to the problem must not lie in suicides that look like accidents ... but rather in life and the freedom to live it."
First widely known Transgender person who was catapulted from obscurity into the unprecedented role of international spokesperson for people with "gender dysphoria."
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Christine_Jorgensen.html
OSCAR WILDE
"A man who does not think for himself does not think at all."
His public trial for "the love that dare not speak its name" in Britain led to a nascent "Gay Consciousness" that would become the foundation of the early GLBT Rights Movement decades later.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Oscar_Wilde.html
BARBARA GITTINGS
Lesbian activist who spearheaded the drive to overturn the classification of homosexuality as a mental illness in the 1970s.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Barbara_Gittings.html
BAYARD RUSTIN
"When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him."
Gay African-American civil rights pioneer was Dr. Martin Luther King's mentor and architect of the 1963 March on Washington.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Bayard_Rustin.html
DR. MARGARET CHUNG
Lesbian, first U.S. born Chinese woman to become a physician; founder of the Women's Naval Reserves (WAVES).
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Dr_Margaret_Chung.html
FRIDA KAHLO
"I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you."
Bisexual Mexican painter was the forerunner of the Neomexicanismo artistic movement; first Hispanic woman on a U.S. postage stamp.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Frida_Kahlo.html
DR. ALFRED KINSEY
"We are recorders and reporters of the facts not judges of the behavior we describe."
Bisexual U.S. sex researcher whose study of American sexual proclivities during the 1950s continues to spark controversy.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Alfred_Kinsey.html
TWO SPIRIT PEOPLE
U.S. and Canadian GLBT tribespeople who fulfill
various mixed-gender roles and identities.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Two_Spirit_People.html
ALAN TURING
"We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done."
Gay British mathematician, considered "The Father of Computer Science," broke the Nazis' "Enigma Code" to bring down Adolf Hitler.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Alan_Turing.html
ALVIN AILEY
"One of the processes of your life is to constantly break down that inferiority, to constantly reaffirm that 'I am somebody.'"
Internationally acclaimed gay choreographer and dancer who pioneered African-American cultural expression through dance.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Alvin_Ailey.html
KEITH HARING
"My contribution to the world is my ability to draw. I will draw as much as I can for as many people as I can for as long as I can."
Iconic Gay artist whose work came to define the aesthetic sensibilities of the 1980s.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Keith_Haring.html
LEONARD MATLOVICH
"They gave me a medal for killing two men, and a discharge or loving one."
Pioneering Gay serviceman whose declaration of his homosexuality in the 1970s prompted the decades-long struggle for the rights of GLBT people to serve openly in the U.S. military, culminating with the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Leonard_Matlovich.html
REINALDO ARENAS
Gay Cuban author and social justice activist imprisoned for protesting Fidel Castro's criminalization of gay people.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Reinaldo_Arenas.html
DR. ANTONIA PANTOJA
"You cannot live a lukewarm life ... you have to live a life with passion."
Influential Puerto Rican Lesbian social justice advocate; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1997.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org/Dr_Antonia_Pantoja.html
Download the keepsake walking map and plaques diagram at www.windycitymediagroup.com/pdf/LegacyWalkingMap1.pdf.