Committee on Transportation and Public Way
ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, lifelong Chicago resident and Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame inductee Edward "Ed" Negron, who touched countless lives through his work as a photographer, volunteer, mentor, activist, and counselor, passed away on Friday, July 23, 2021; and
WHEREAS, Ed was fearless and outspoken about his experiences as a former addict and gang member, a bisexual Latino, a United States Army veteran, and a member of Chicago's leather community, and served as a role model and a symbol of recovery and hope to countless Chicagoans; and
WHEREAS, Ed's substance abuse counseling gave light and hope to many struggling with addiction, especially within the LGBTQ+ community, and Ed himself had recently celebrated 21 years of sobriety in August 2020; and,
WHEREAS, Ed served as a volunteer and leader for numerous civic organizations, including but in no way limited to AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Association for Latino Men for Action (AMLA), Bisexual, Queer Alliance Chicago (Co Founder), Chicago Boys Troop, Chicago Crystal Meth Task Force, Chicago Task Force on LGBT Substance Use and Abuse, Compassion Action, Equality Illinois, International Mr. Leather (IML), and Orgullo en Accion; and
WHEREAS, Ed leaves behind a deeply devoted and tightly-knit community of friends, family, mentees, and allies, for whom recognition of Ed's life and achievements is justly due; and
WHEREAS, Ed's longtime association with Leather 6410 on Clark St and Chicago's leather community has been celebrated in candlelight memorial and window tributes on the 6400 block of N Clark St, now therefore:
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF CHICAGO:
SECTION 1. Pursuant to an ordinance heretofore passed by the City Council which allows erection of honorary street-name signs, the Commissioner of Transportation shall take the necessary action for standardization of the 6400 block of North Clark St, from W Devon Ave running north to W Schreiber Ave, as "Ed Negron Way"
Andre V...
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