On Oct. 21, the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office held its 10th annual LGBTQ+ awards and lunch ceremony in celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month at the state government building at 555 W. Monroe St.
The event celebrated leadership in realms as diverse as business, education, labor, arts and humanities and sportsmanship. After Mike Ziri, a member of the Treasurer’s Advisory Council who is also director of Public Policy at Equality Illinois, provided an introduction, State Treasurer Michael Frerichs took the stage and discussed how far local LGBTQ+ rights have evolved in the last decade.
Among the honorees for this year’s awards were Mark Bonne (alderman, Rockford City Council) for Outstanding Commitment as an Elected Official;
Liliana Calderon Castillo (director of health and safety programs of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers) for Outstanding Achievement in Workforce and Labor;
Joey Mak (CEO of Chicago: Blend) for Outstanding Service in Business;
Lourdes Torres (Chair, Latin American and Latino Studies Department at DePaul University) for Outstanding Commitment to Education; and Brian Johnson (senior advisor and former CEO at Equality Illinois) for Outstanding Service in Leadership.
Additional honorees included Bonsai Bermudez (executive director of The Youth Empowerment Performance Project) for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts and Humanities and Roderick Hawkins (associate dean of external affairs and chief of staff at Northwestern University School of Communication) for Outstanding Commitment to Community Service.
Jonathon Pinkerton accepted the Outstanding Achievement in Sportsmanship for Stonewall Sports Chicago.
