By Gary Barlow

Staff writer

Throughout the month of October the Illinois State Library in Springfield is celebrating Diversity Awareness Month with an exhibit from the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.

The exhibit focuses on last year’s inductees into the hall, the only municipally sponsored GLBT hall of fame in the world.

Highlights of the exhibit include biographies and photos of Mayor Richard M. Daley, inducted last year as a Friend of The Community and a long-time supporter of GLBT rights; Margaret Anderson (1886–1973) and Jane Heap (1883–1964), life partners and free-thinking literary figures who founded, edited and published The Little Review, an avant-garde magazine that featured works by some of the most influential modern American and English writers between 1914 and 1929; Jacques Cristion (1936–2003), a dancer, costume designer and dressmaker who for more than three decades hosted and performed in the annual Halloween drag ball on the South Side, creating a community of gay men and lesbians that continues today; Charles R. Middleton, an historian, educator and, as Roosevelt University’s current president, the first openly gay man to head a major U.S. university; Edward Negron, an activist and substance-abuse counselor who is a dedicated volunteer, mentor, leader, and advocate in the GLBT, Latino and recovering communities; Sidetrack, for 25 years an innovative, nationally known, world-class music-video bar in Chicago and an unparalleled backer of GLBT organizations and efforts of all stripes; and Star Gaze, a Chicago women’s bar that for 8 years has been a contributing and supportive member of the GLBT communities, with a consistent commitment to GLBT organizations and individuals.

The Illinois State Library was founded by Illinois Secretary of State Stephen A. Douglas in 1839 and operates under the guidance of current Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White.

The Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame exhibit, which is free and open to the public, is on display from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Mon.-Fri., in the Atrium at the Illinois State Library, Gwendolyn Brooks Building, 300 South 2nd St., Springfield. Contact Vandella Brown at (217) 785-9075 for more information.