Former state Rep. Larry McKeon (right), the first openly gay member of the Illinois General Assembly, passed away yesterday. He was 63.
The former Army first lieutenant and former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department lieutenant was elected to the Assembly in 1996 from Chicago's North Side District 34 (now District 13). He was also openly HIV+.
Before his election to the Assembly, he served as the city's gay and lesbian liaison as Director of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations’ Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues.
After being renominated to the Assembly in 2006, he announced that he would not be a candidate for re-election because of deteriorating health. He was replaced as the Democratic nominee by Greg Harris, also openly gay and openly HIV+. Harris was elected in November 2006 and is seeking re-election this year.
The Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame has a profile of McKeon here.
Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Gay political feud over tainted Obama fundraiser
Today's Chicago Sun-Times tells of a nasty fight over one of Barack Obama's gay fundraisers, who was punished in recent months for ethics lapses regarding his stewardship of a trust fund benefiting young relatives.
Michael Bauer, who has raised tens of thousands of dollars for Obama and who serves on the lesbian and gay advisory committee of the Senator's presidential campaign, is serving a nine-month suspension of his law license for looting a trust fund benefiting his brother's children. Several prominent Illinois LGBT activists want Obama to boot him as a fundraiser and as an advisor. Obama is so far standing by his $60,000 man, but the nieces and nephew still haven't received restitution for their missing money.
The missing amount is about $300,000, which, coincidentally, is about the amount that Bauer gave to political candidates during the same period that the money went missing. No word on whether Obama or the other beneficiaries of Bauer's political largesse will remit the money to the kids' trust fund.
Michael Bauer, who has raised tens of thousands of dollars for Obama and who serves on the lesbian and gay advisory committee of the Senator's presidential campaign, is serving a nine-month suspension of his law license for looting a trust fund benefiting his brother's children. Several prominent Illinois LGBT activists want Obama to boot him as a fundraiser and as an advisor. Obama is so far standing by his $60,000 man, but the nieces and nephew still haven't received restitution for their missing money.
The missing amount is about $300,000, which, coincidentally, is about the amount that Bauer gave to political candidates during the same period that the money went missing. No word on whether Obama or the other beneficiaries of Bauer's political largesse will remit the money to the kids' trust fund.
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