Source: Chicago Tribune, CBS 2 Chicago, Windy City Times
Larry McKeon polished relations between Mayor Richard M. Daley and Chicago's gay and lesbian community in the early 1990s before becoming the first openly gay member of the Illinois General Assembly, where he successfully pushed legislation to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

McKeon, 63, died Tuesday, May 13, in Springfield, apparently after suffering a stroke. His death was announced Wednesday to lawmakers by House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago).

A Chicago Democrat, McKeon served five terms in the House but did not seek re-election in 2006 because of health struggles that included cancer and an AIDS-related digestive illness.

An Army veteran and former lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, McKeon came to Chicago in the 1980s to pursue a degree in social service administration.

He worked as a director at United Charities and became involved with gay activist groups, leading to his run for political office.

In 1992, he was hired as Mayor Daley's liaison to the LGBT community as the director of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations' Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues. In this role, he advocated for gay rights and worked closely with local politicians on issues close to the LGBT community.

McKeon was elected to the House in 1996 by voters in what was then the North Side’s 34th District. During that campaign, he acknowledged being HIV-positive.

At the time, the seat was open and the city's gay community sought one of its own in the legislature.

"It was not only symbolism but it was a catalyst to move legislation from the inside," said Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), who in 2003 became Chicago's first openly gay alderman. "We need to have somebody at the table."

When McKeon retired, Democratic ward committeemen selected the openly gay and HIV-positive Greg Harris as McKeon's replacement.

"He really blazed a trail for a lot of us who are elected officials today who also happened to be gay or lesbian people," Rep. Harris said.

When McKeon left office, fellow lawmaker Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago) emphasized how much public perceptions changed in the 11 years McKeon was in office.

"He may have gone in there as the first openly gay state legislator but he is leaving as a very good legislator who happened to be gay," Fritchey said in July 2006.

Mr. McKeon, an ex-police officer with strong ties to Daley, "was someone who could win and whose profile broke stereotypes," said Rick Garcia, political director of Equality Illinois.

One of his major legislative priorities was to expand gay rights. In 2005, Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed into law a measure that added sexual orientation to the state’s human rights act banning discrimination against gays and lesbians by landlords, real estate agents, employers and lenders.

In his zealousness over the years to get such a measure passed, McKeon caused a stir in 1999 when he said some lawmakers who helped narrowly defeat the measure then should have voted for it because they had gay relatives. McKeon later apologized.

"You've got to understand it took 30 years to pass that legislation," Harris  said. "And I think a lot of the reason it passed when it did was because of Larry's being able to share his personal story, his personal experience, and in a very eloquent way, say this is how it affects human beings in this state, and this is why it's important to the state of Illinois."

Harris pointed to Mr. McKeon's successful push for the expansion of Truman College in Uptown as proof of his other legislative accomplishments.

Harris said McKeon died in Springfield, where he recently moved to retire and do some part-time lobbying. Among his clients was the AIDS Foundation in Chicago, for whom he was working pro bono, Harris said.

"He had this giant RV and that is what he loved to do - travel to state parks all around Illinois and the Midwest," he said.

Full article: 1st openly gay member of Illinois legislature | Chicago Tribune
First Openly Gay Illinois Lawmaker Dies | CBS2 Chicago
Gay icon Larry McKeon passes | Windy City Times