When Mayor Harold Washington appointed Katherine “Kit” Duffy to be Chicago’s first liaison to the gay and lesbian community, strangers used to stop her on the street, pump her hand and thank her.
“Strangers, gay strangers, would be all choked up and say, ‘Thank you, thank you for what you’re doing,’ ’’ said Rick Garcia, a longtime LGBT rights activist. “Today we have people at the White House, the governor’s office, gay people advocating all over the place, but in 1984 we did not have that.
“She’s the midwife of the modern gay-rights movement in Illinois,” he said.
Ms. Duffy died of heart problems Tuesday at Stroger Hospital, according to several of her friends. She was 71.
“She was one of our strongest allies ever,” said William W. Greaves, who was Mayor Richard M. Daley’s liaison to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
Ms. Duffy happened to be straight, but her commitment and ability to get things done earned her widespread gratitude and a place in Chicago’s Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. She was inducted in 2008.
She was a fixture in the progressive Democratic circles that boosted Washington and the mayoral bid of Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who visited her Sunday at the hospital.
He said her activism stemmed from witnessing racial segregation and discrimination while growing up in Hagerstown, Maryland.
“It’s something that she never forgot about,” he said. “She was one of Harold’s longest-running friends. She was volunteering with him when he was a state legislator. She sensed he could be a change agent, and she was spot on.”
Ms. Duffy arrived in Illinois in the 1960s to attend Northwestern University, said her friend, Janet Rowland.
Washington trusted her and knew she was good at connecting different groups, said another friend, Albert Williams. When Washington was elected mayor in 1983, he tapped Ms. Duffy to be his liaison to the gay and lesbian communities. “It was about equal justice and fairness,” Williams said.
Katherine “Kit” Duffy | Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame photo
In a way, being straight was a plus for her role, Rick Garcia said. She had no “baggage” and “she was able to meet with every faction and every persuasion,” he said.
But her work was not without headaches at a time when AIDS fears were high and society was less open on LGBT issues. Some gay activists were skeptical about the effectiveness of a straight advocate. She pressed city health officials to be more pro-active on AIDS education. “She had challenges every step of the way,” Rick Garcia said. “She had challenges with the power structure who didn’t understand or didn’t like or didn’t want to deal with gay people.”
The year after Washington appointed her, while still serving as his liaison, she became the first executive director of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Greaves said. And, she was a founder of Equality Illinois, a group that lobbied for equal rights and gay marriage, Rick Garcia said.
After leaving government, Ms. Duffy was a major strategist who helped secure passage of a 1988 city human-rights ordinance barring discrimination against gays and lesbians, among others, Williams said.
“She knew all the original lakefront liberals and progressives and she was a true policy wonk,” Jesus “Chuy” Garcia said. “When you needed some research, you called Kit.”
She was a mentor to many. Greaves credited her with advice that helped him make a Daley Plaza salute to LGBT veterans newsworthy, inclusive and educational: “ ‘Make sure you have members that represent all the branches of services, and women, African-Americans and Latinos and transgender people.’ ”
Ms. Duffy, of Logan Square, was divorced and had no children or immediate survivors. She had retired from work as a claims adjuster in the insurance industry, Rowland said.
She used to love Riverview, the old amusement park at Belmont and Western that exuded carny allure. She particularly liked the funhouse, Aladdin’s Castle, with its mazes, mirrors and off-kilter floors. She also enjoyed antiquing in Long Grove. One of her favorite restaurants and a frequent site for political meetings — Nuevo Leon in Pilsen — burned in a fire earlier this month.
Instead of a wake or funeral, Ms. Duffy asked to be remembered with a future bash at a landmark Boystown bar where patrons can boogie to show tunes, Beyonce tributes and lip-sync contests.
“She told me she wanted it to be at Sidetrack,” Rowland said. “She didn’t want anyone being sad or anything. She wanted a party.”
