Rally for Daddy Joey: A Life of Service
Donation protected
Friends, family, Chicagoans, and worldwide community members --
Joseph McDonald, or Daddy Joey to so many of us, is one of the most incredible people I've ever had the privilege to know. An inductee of the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame -- any internet search can get more information about his incredible life of service serving numerous diverse communities, because I can't begin to give justice to his story. Some highlights of his life just that I'm aware of include:
- being an out lgbtq Navy sailor who was an operator of a nuclear weapons system in the 1970s
- honorable discharged in 1980
- becoming part of Chuck Renslow's inner circle, and volunteering at IML for many years
- eventually becoming Executive Director of IML for several years, and Den Daddy for many other years
- being a proudly sober queer black leatherman going back to the 80s.
- being one of the founders of LORE - the Leathermen of Recovery leather club for sober leathermen, as well as an older form of the club called SC3
- Co-producing Chicago Recovery roundup from 1992-1995, and volunteering for the revived Chicago Roundup in more recent years
- Was involved in multiple positions at Equality Illinois, which advocated for Same-Sex Marriage in Illinois, culminating in the state passing a law well before the federal SCOTUS decision
- Recipient of the Pantheon of Leather Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009
- From 1985 to 1992, volunteer with the NAMES Project in Chicago, assisting families and friends of people who had died of AIDS-related complications.
- Community outreach with STOP AIDS/Chicago from 1993 to 1995, passing out safe-sex kits.
- In 1985, he co-produced “BLOW-OUT,” an all-day entertainment extravaganza, working with the late Hall of Fame member Thom Dombkowski to present the first benefit for what would become Chicago House.
- Hepatitis vaccine distribution efforts
What is this about?
In sum, Daddy has been working at the Center on Halsted for many years doing volunteer management and assisting with fundraising. I've also personally seen him involved in efforts like the first widely-available distribution of the MPX vaccine (remember how hard it was to get at first? yea, he was who ran the program that made it available to the public). I saw him organize the Santa Speedo Run over at Sidetrack, which raised $183,000 for the Center on Halsted just a month or so ago.
And then one day last week, he was called into the CEO's office, and was fired. He was escorted out as if he had done something wrong -- he was not even allowed to get the contact list he had built over years of organizing work from his office computer.
What is the plan?
While we cannot change the terrible leadership at the CoH, what we can do is show up for Daddy Joey. I did some informal calculations, and have set a goal to provide, as a community, a severance package for Daddy. He needs some time to find his next steps.
Please give what you are able to support our friend, someone I consider family.
We owe it to him.
Organizer and beneficiary
Matthew Blancett
Organizer
Chicago, IL
Joseph McDonald
Beneficiary