Local LGBT-rights activist Gary Chichester has been named as the recipient of the 2018 Jon-Henri Damski Award.
Damski was an weekly columnist, poet and community activist who died in 1997 at age 60. Among other things, he was considered among those who were critical in the passage of Chicago’s Human Rights Ordinance in 1988 and the local hate-crimes bill in 1990. He contributed to many publications, including Windy City Times.
Chichester is the board chair of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame. Among many achievements, he co-founded the Chicago Gay Alliance in 1971, and was a member on local and national committees for the 1979 and 1987 National Marches on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
Details about a formal ceremony will follow.