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A Mother To All
Chicago icon and legend Gloria Allen, 76, who lived in an LGBTQ-friendly senior residence, died June 13 of respiratory failure.An advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, Allen “transitioned before Stonewall and the word transgender even existed,” says her friend Luchina Fisher, who is also the writer and director of Mama Gloria, a documentary about Allen.Confident about her identity from early on, Allen says in the documentary, “When I came out of my mother’s womb, I was out.”“The only time I entered a closet was to get me an outfit and a pair of pumps,” she adds. Allen grew up in the Bronzeville section of Chicago and later became part of the South Side’s legendary drag ball scene.
