Taking Pride in Our Story: Chicago and Its LGBTQ Community

Tracy Baim is publisher and executive editor at Windy City Times, a weekly LGBTQ newspaper which she co-founded in 1985. Baim received the 2013 Chicago Headline Club Lifetime Achievement Award for her 30 years in journalism. In 2014, she was inducted into the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Hall of Fame. Robert Feder named her to his Top 20 women in Chicago journalism list. She has won numerous gay community and journalism honors, including the Community Media Workshop’s Studs Terkel Award in 2005 and several Peter Lisagor journalism awards. Baim’s most recent book is Barbara Gittings: Gay Pioneer. 

She received the American Institute of Architects-Chicago Presidential Citation Award in 2016 for her work on tiny homes for the homeless. Additional awards include those from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Illinois, and Unity Parenting.

Kim L. Hunt is currently executive director of Pride Action Tank (PAT). Her career spans the public, private, and nonprofit sectors with a focus on collaborative approaches, advocacy and strategy development. PAT, a project of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, is a project incubator and think tank devoted to action that improves outcomes and opportunities for LGBTQ and other marginalized communities.

Hunt is a co-host of OUTSpoken!, a monthly LGBTQ storytelling event and serves on several boards and advisory groups. Hunt is also the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the Cook County State’s Attorney Vernita Gray Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.

David Ernesto Munar has devoted his entire professional career to building comprehensive systems of care and prevention that meet the needs of vulnerable populations.  Since joining Howard Brown Health in 2014 as its President and CEO, Munar has focused on ensuring the delivery of excellent health and wellness services to Howard Brown’s patient populations, strengthening finances and operations, and positioning the organization for long-term sustainability and growth.  Prior to Howard Brown, Munar honed his career at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) where he held several positions, including President and CEO, during his 23-year tenure with the agency.  In 2007, he helped launch the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy, which led to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy unveiled by President Obama in July 2010.  Munar’s work draws on career experience and perspectives as a bilingual Colombian‐American and gay man living with HIV. He is an avid runner and graduate of Northwestern University.

Reyna Ortiz is a proud Trans woman who was born and raised in Chicago. Her experiences navigating through this society openly as a Trans woman for over twenty years has given her a great understanding of the needs in her community.

Reyna works hands on with her community, providing vital resources and has dedicated herself to building and working with her Trans community. Reyna is passionate about educating and enlightening society on the realities of this beautiful and resourceful community. She is an advocate, activist, and author fighting for the rights of the LGBT community. 

Brian C. Johnson joined Equality Illinois as chief executive officer in 2016, Equality Illinois’ 25th anniversary year.

As CEO, Brian oversees the three non-profit entities that make up the organization, each with its own board of directors: Equality Illinois Institute, the 501 (c)(3) arm that focuses on education of the public, media and policy makers on LGBT issues; Equality Illinois, the 501 (c)(4) entity that advocates for the adoption of particular policies aimed at making Illinois a more equal and accepting place for the LGBTQ community; and the Equality Illinois Political Action Committee, which endorses and supports political candidates on the state and local levels who will champion a more equitable future for Illinois.