Rick Garcia is an American LGBT activist.

Biography

Garcia is from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. His advocacy work began in his teenage years organizing local gay rights efforts. After moving to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1986, Garcia became a significant figure in the successful 15-year campaign for a 1988 ordinance prohibiting sexual-orientation discrimination. As part of the activist group known as the "Gang of Four," he later contributed to the passage of the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance in 1993. Garcia co-founded

Equality Illinois Equality Illinois (EI) was founded in 1991 to work towards building a better Illinois by advancing equal treatment and social justice through education, advocacy, and protection of the rights of the LGBTQ community. Structure The Equality Illino ...

in 1992, advocating for statewide protections against discrimination. He also helped establish the national Federation of Statewide Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Political Organizations. Garcia has worked within the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and with various political groups to support LGBTQ+ rights. He was previously associated with Maryland's New Ways Ministries, an organization focused on the gay and lesbian community. His partner Ernie Hunsperger died in 2020.

Recognition

Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame (formerly Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame) is an institution founded in 1991 to honor persons and entities who have made significant contributions to the quality of life or well-being of the LGBT community in Ch ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Rick Living people American LGBTQ rights activists Year of birth missing (living people)