The lgbtq+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project

Last Thursdsay's 4th Annual Q***r Elder History Panel 🔥💘

Amidst our phones going off with tornado and thunderstorm warnings, we sat together in the safe, cozy basement of Dorothy Downstairs. Viewing the slideshow, listening quietly, laughing out loud, and sometimes crying as we listened to Norma, Joyce, Betty, and Jay share stories from their lives over the last 60-70 years. Gerber/Hart volunteer Kaitlyn Griffith gave a tribute to the late author Yvonne Zipter, and Jen Dentel from Gerber/Hart Library & Archives brought an amazing display of archival materials for folks to explore.

Link to Windy City Times article in our bio.

Thank you to Dorothy. for hosting community events and sharing proceeds with LGBTQ+ organizations like us. 😘

Thank you to Gerber/Hart Library & Archives for being the bestest community partner over the years.💋

Thank you to our panelists for opening up your lives (and old photos!) to us.👏

Thank you to Carrie Maxwell for covering the event for Windy City Times. 🧚‍♀️

And a huge thank you to all of the wonderful people who came out in the middle of a stormy night to be in community with us, and share your thoughts and lives with us. 💟

Huge thank you to Sasha-Ann Simons, Lynnea Domienik, and the rest of the crew at WBEZ for having us on In the Loop this morning!

Check out the conversation with Norma and Jay, two of the q***r elder panelists who'll be at Dorothy this Thursday. ❤️

Link here and in our bio: https://www.wbez.org/in-the-loop-with-sasha-ann-simons/2026/06/09/q***r-elders-reflect-on-lgbtq-pride-and-intergenerational-connections-in-2026

Introducing our 4th panelist for Thursday's Q***r Elder History Panel!

Joyce Fernandes (72) is an artist and writer. She also calls herself a cultural worker as a way to encompass the many directions her career has taken while subtly acknowledging the forces that have driven it. Joyce grew up in a rustbelt city-in-decline located on a Great Lake, (Erie, Pennsylvania) that she was eager to leave. In 1978, she moved to another Great Lake City (Chicago, Illinois) and has been here since, with a brief recent interlude in Santa Barbara, California.

Joyce is currently working as a painter in the new studio that she built after leaving full time employment as the Executive Director of Architreasures, a nonprofit organization that activates community through the power of art and design.
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Only 14 tickets left for the Q***r Elder History Panel on Thursday!!!

Introducing our 3rd panelist:

Betty A. Akins, 62, is a native Southeast Side Chicagoan devoted to creating a stronger and more resilient community on the South Side. She has served as the Community Engagement Manager of the Center on Cottage Grove in the historic Woodlawn community since its inception in 2022. The Center is a hub for LGBTQ+organizations serving primarily Black and Brown communities to collaborate on community initiatives, programs, and events. Betty has volunteered in numerous nonprofits including the LGBTQ Aging Taskforce, AIDS/ HIV Prevention, Illinois Search and Rescue, and CPD K9 Bomb Squad Unit training. Her involvement with alternative transportation advocacy led her to become co-founder and co-owner of South Shore Bicycle Works, a bicycle coop for teaching, training and advocacy.
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Introducing our 2nd panelist for next week's Q***r Elder History Panel at Dorothy Downstairs!

Jay Myers, 70, was born (Trans!) and raised in Downstate Illinois, but Chicago has always been an inspiring lighthouse throughout his life. His most notable work for LGTBQ rights was first as a 22 year old staff member of NGTF in New York City in the 1970’s, and later his captaining of the “War on Cruising,” a protest waged against an anti-gay film made in Greenwich Village in 1978-79. Jay has been married for 5 years to a high school sweetheart, Anita, who always knew he was really a boy. He lives proudly Trans in rural Chenoa, Il (pop. 1,800) –along with three other transmen! Jay is a 2025 graduate of the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project and does Storytelling in Chicago.
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Photo by .patrick.krueger

Last night, the intergenerational team behind the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue project had the chance to celebrate our youngest members. ❤️

A huge congratulations to Molly Fulop & Katia Klemm who were honored in a ceremony at the Chicago History Museum for recepients of the Windy City Times' 2026 "30 Under 30" awards.

The "30 Under 30" honorees are Chicago-based LGBTQ+ individuals (and allies) who have made substantial contributions to the LGBTQ+ community in the fields of entertainment, politics, health, activism, academics, sports or other areas.

Molly (26) has worked with The LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project since 2021. In this Project, Molly has facilitated LGBTQ+ intergenerational artmaking, culminating in three public art exhibitions at the Center on Addison, each with an attendance of 300+ people. Molly has presented on the impacts and benefits of LGBTQ+ collaborative artmaking at conferences of the National Art Education Association and the American Studies Association. Molly, a doctoral student at University of Illinois Chicago, has taught courses on LGBTQ+ art history at the Newberry Library and worked as an Educator at Wrightwood 659 to highlight LGBTQ+ art.

Katia, 27, is a Filipino-Panamanian nonbinary d**e from Florida. They are a member of the team behind the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project (IDP) responsible for program management, dialogue facilitation, research interviews, archiving, and curating the project’s annual public art exhibitions. They also co-host Coffee House, a bi-weekly q***r potluck and open mic. They presented their work cataloging the IDP exhibition archives at Gerber/Hart Library & Archives Q***r History symposium, and ar writing a thesis on the role of networks behind q***r affinity groups such as the IDP while serving as Archiving Lead for What Will Have Been Ours, an intergenerational open studio art project exploring q***r American identity. They are a lover and a fighter, and have a guilty love for glitter and the dance floor an hour before the lights come on.

Depicted in photos: Molly, Katia, Phyllis Johnson, Nic Westrate, Adam Greteman, Karen Morris, Bear Savage

Photo credit: Bear Savage

We do things a little differently at our Q***r Elder History Panel event. Each panelist brings in photos from different moments in their lives. We put them in a slidehow to display while panelists talk about their lives spanning decades of Chicago's LGBTQ+ History. The Q&A with the audience that follows is always so much fun.

Meet our first panelist! Dr. Norma Seledon, 63, is a Mexican immigrant and longtime Chicago resident with more than 40 years of leadership in social justice, community empowerment, and LGBTQ+ advocacy. She serves as Director of Leadership Development & Capacity Building at Equality Illinois, where she advances culturally responsive leadership and civic representation initiatives statewide. Dr. Seledon is also a consultant specializing in DEI, strategic planning, and executive coaching. A former leader with Chicago Public Schools and Mujeres Latinas en Acción, she is recognized for her work in decolonized leadership, asset-based organizational wellness, and community development.

Dr. Seledon was just featured yesterday in the Windy City Times article "Chicago advocate Norma Seledon mentors a new generation."

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We're 8 days away from our 4th Annual Q***r Elder History Panel in partnership with Gerber/Hart Library & Archives and Dorothy Downstairs!

Introducing our fabulous panelists! Clockwise from the top left: Norma Seledon, Betty Akins, Joyce Fernandes, and Jay Myers.

We'll post more about each of of our panelists in the coming days.

21+, ticket purchase required. Check out the link in our bio.

Still glowing from last week’s Community Dinner & Dialogue: Stories of Pride. A huge thank you to our featured storytellers, PRIDEChicago, and all of the beautiful people who came out to join us!! It was a packed house and we loved it. Stay tuned for photos from our small group dialogues. 😘

Two more days until Community Dinner & Dialogue in partnership with Pride Chicago!

Introducing our fourth storyteller ❤️

Holly Davis, 66, is a former Activity Director and Educator. Now she's a professional Artist ! Holly creates oil on canvas masterpieces to help raise funds for the Artemis Le***an/ Feminist Chorus. She has been a proud member of the Artemis Le***an Feminist Chorus for over 6 years. Holly is a First soprano and, on occasions, lead soloist on some songs. She enjoys singing with some of the most kind and generous people you'll ever meet (one big happy family) and considers all of the younger members her children. The chorus will be singing the National anthem at the White Sox Pride Day in June, and will be reveling in their family bond!

Photo by .patrick.krueger 😘