Gay rights activist Jim Madigan is
running for the Illinois State Senate in 2010. If elected, he would
be the first openly gay senator in Illinois.
Chicago gay weekly Windy
City Times reported that Madigan, a Democrat, participated in
Chicago Gay Pride as a candidate.
“I will be participating in the
[Pride] Parade as a candidate, although I won't have my official
launch until after Pride,” Madigan said two days before the parade.
Madigan's last job was at the helm of
the gay rights group Equality Illinois. He also worked as a staff
attorney for Lambda Legal for three years.
An Ohio native, he moved to Chicago to
attend the University of Chicago Law School, where he graduated in
2000, and continues to serve as an adjunct lecturer.
At Madigan's campaign website,
www.JimMadigan.com, he
includes his gay activism experience in his resume: “I have served
my community as a civil rights attorney, a leader in LGBT nonprofit
organizations, and an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago
Law School. My career is dedicated to basic principles of fairness
and equal justice under law.”
Madigan, 35, is running for Illinois'
7th Senate District, which includes parts of Chicago's gay
neighborhoods. He said he will shortly open his campaign
headquarters, which is located above gay bar Crew Bar and Grill at
4802 Broadway, and has already selected June LaTrobe, a transgender
woman, as his chief of staff.