Pictured At the Anti-Defamation League event, from left: Roger Simon (Bauer’s husband); former Illinois state Sen. Bill Marovitz; United States Sen. Joe Biden; awardee Michael Bauer; Christie Hefner; Ald. Tom Tunney, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan; and Lonnie J. Nasatir, regional director of the ADL for the Greater Chicago/Upper Midwest Region. Photo by Amy Wooten
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) honored fundraiser, social activist and Midwest regional director of the People for the American Way, Michael Bauer, at the Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Civil Rights Award Dinner Sunday, Oct. 23.
‘It’s unbelievably humbling, and it’s actually overwhelming,’ Bauer told Windy City Times at the awards gala. ‘It’s particularly humbling being a Jewish man and a gay man, and being honored by a Jewish organization that’s recognizing both.’
Bauer has been active in the gay, women’s and Jewish communities throughout the years. He is involved in many areas of interest, including gay and lesbian rights, HIV/AIDS funding issues, abortion rights and the U.S.-Israel relationship. The ADL, an organization dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism, was founded in Chicago in 1913.
Bauer has played an important role in the offices of three openly gay Illinois politicians, including Tom Chiola, Sebastian Patti and Ald. Tom Tunney. He is currently a treasurer and member of the executive committee of Personal PAC, serves on Joint Action Council Political Action Committee’s steering committee, and is a board member of AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Global AIDS Alliance and Test Positive Aware Network.
He is also a co-owner of Windy City Times.