Photos by Vern Hester
TaskForce Prevention and Community Services (TaskForce) held its annual Vogue for Good celebration of community, culture and resilience event Oct. 9 at the Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W. Jackson Blvd.
This year’s theme was “Honoring Our History.” The event also paid homage to the 35th anniversary of the groundbreaking ballroom-focused documentary Paris is Burning.
For 35 years, this Black, Latiné and LGBTQ+-led nonprofit has helped youth on Chicago’s West Side; it is based in the Austin neighborhood.
According to the organization’s website, they are “a multi-service, grassroots organization committed to improving the sexual health and overall well-being of LGBTQ+ youth of color in Chicago by providing a safe space for fellowship, HIV/STI screening and education and on-site referrals to medical, housing and other social services.”
Event Co-Chairs and TaskForce Board Members Maya Green, MD, and James Sims kicked off the festivities. Green noted that for over three decades, TaskForce has provided a space for “young people not only [to] survive but [also] thrive.”
Sims discussed the 35th anniversary of Paris is Burning and the ways that it celebrated the “artistry, resilience and power of ballroom culture. That film continues to inspire generations and reminds us that visibility, belonging and unapologetic expression are the reasons why spaces like TaskForce matter … We know ballroom is more than history. It’s a living and breathing act of resistance … and a language of defiance.” He said that acts of defiance are needed now more than ever because bigoted people are working to strip away rights from the LGBTQ+ community.
TaskForce Executive Director Chris Balthazar said that everyone’s “support is especially vital now. Our Black and Brown LGBTQ+ youth are battling a syndemic—not only HIV and STI’s, but also housing instability, unemployment, violence and transphobia. And the growing political attacks on trans and immigrant communities only deepen those wounds.” Balthazar reminded everyone that they cannot “ignore the moment we’re in” where “the rights and safety of our communities” are being eroded across the country.
Balthazar also paid homage to TaskForce’s founder, the late Robert Lee Ames, and original supporter, the late Betty Smith, and their roles in bringing the organization into fruition. where it holds the title of the oldest Black-founded LGBTQ+ organization in Chicago. He recognized Smith’s daughter, South Side Help Center Executive Director Vanessa Smith, who was in the audience and presented her with flowers (Betty Smith additionally founded South Side Help Center).
TaskForce presented inaugural awards to Chicago Department of Public Health LGBTQ Health and Outreach Liaison Antonio King (TaskForce Stars Award); Stroger Hospital Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Specialist Margo Bell, MD (TaskForce Icon Award), and Cook County Health Department of Pediatrics Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine Division Chair Lisa Henry-Reid, MD (TaskForce Legendary Award), for their years of service to the community.
Balthazar recognized King’s “advocacy, leadership and unwavering commitment to equity” which has “inspired lasting change across our city.” Balthazar spoke about King’s work as a TaskForce staff member many years ago and how he was instrumental in the renaming of the organization from TaskForce AIDS Prevention to TaskForce Prevention and Community Services to properly reflect the organization’s expanded mission. He also highlighted King’s vital role during the COVD-19 pandemic and the Mpox outbreaks, where he “rolled up his sleeves” and brought vaccine clinics into Chicago’s Black and Brown communities. Balthazar said this award will hence force be named the Antonio King TaskForce Stars Award.
King presented Balthazar with a framed copy of the flyer from the first fundraiser TaskForce held. He also spoke about the early days when he was a TaskForce staff member and the work he did to provide services to those in need.
Balthazar called Bell a “trailblazer whose vision has shaped not only TaskForce, but the entire landscape of LGBTQ+ health care in Chicago.” He spoke about how Bell recognized that many young people and especially transgender youth did not receive basic medical care so she rented space on the West Side where she provided them with free vaccinations and HIV/STI testing. Balthazar said that Bell would buy hormones to give to young trans people who could not afford them so they would not turn to “dangerous, street based methods.”
Additionally, Balthazar said when Bell saw “our young people practicing the vibrant dance of the ballroom scene, she understood something profound; that their creativity wasn’t a distraction, it was a form of healing” so in 2011 she launched Vogue School, which is now TaskForce’s “essential social arm of our medical work.” He added that next year Bell will sponsor their music program, where 20 youth will have the tools to write and record music in a studio under the mentorship of singer, songwriter, actress, The Voice contestant and Mamas Birds Performing Arts Youth Organization Founder Sandy Redd. Balthazar said this award will hence force be named the Dr. Margo Bell TaskForce Icon Award.
Bell called the TaskForce staff “amazing and wonderful.”
Balthazar said Henry-Reid “has been a mentor, trailblazer and a fierce advocate for youth. For decades she has fought to make health systems accountable to the very communities they often overlook.” He spoke about Henry-Reid’s insistence on comprehensive, medically accurate sex education being the standard of care when it was made known “that in Chicago, young women aged 15-19 once had among the highest STI rates in the nation.” Balthazar added that Henry-Reid has made it her priority to end the HIV epidemic with a specific focus on young LGBTQ+ people and “especially those who are Black and Brown.” He said this award will hence force be named the Dr. Lisa Henry-Reid TaskForce Legendary Award.
Henry-Reid spoke about her career trajectory that began with a fellowship in adolescent medicine and how she ended up Cook County Hospital many decades ago. She also praised Bell’s work in the medical field.
The event also featured an electrifying performance by Redd; Task Force Vogue School participants Aliyah Mason, Skai Jackson, Honey Daniel’s, Rogue and Honnii, who each wowed the audience with their signature vogue moves; and Ameer the DJ spinning tunes, as well as a video presentation where youth participants talked about the ways that Task Force has helped them through the programs the organization provides.
TaskForce Board Co-Chair Jim Pickett also spoke.
TaskForce Prevention and Community Services was also honored with the inaugural “Out Front” leader role as the grand marshal of Chicago’s Pride Parade. This was the first time in the parade’s 54-year history that a local community group led the parade.
