First Openly Gay
Illinois Lawmaker Dies

Larry McKeon, the first openly gay member of the Illinois state legislature, died Tuesday in Springfield, Ill., the Chicago Tribune reports. He was 63.

McKeon had suffered from cancer and AIDS-related illnesses, but the immediate cause of death was a stroke, according to a Springfield newspaper, The State Journal-Register. Barbara Flynn Currie, the majority leader in the state house of representatives, announced his death Wednesday from the house floor in Springfield, the state capital.

McKeon, a Democrat, was first elected to the house in 1996 from a district on the north side of Chicago. He was openly gay throughout his political career, and during his first campaign he acknowledged being HIV-positive. He went on to serve five terms. He was an advocate for gay rights, among many other causes, and his tenure saw the passage in 2005 of a state law prohibiting antigay discrimination in employment and housing.

In 2006 he decided not to seek reelection because of his health. Recently he had been working part-time as a lobbyist in Springfield for clients including the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

McKeon was an army veteran and had been an officer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department before moving to Chicago in the 1980s to attend graduate school. He then worked as a college instructor and social services administrator, and in 1992 he became executive director of the Chicago Human Rights Commission's Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues.

He was named to the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1997. (The Advocate)