Rick Garcia is Director of Public Policy for Equality Illinois.  Rick is responsible for developing policy priorities and public positions of Equality Illinois and oversees Equality Illinois’ lobbying team in Springfield.

Since moving to Chicago in 1986, Rick has been one of Illinois’ most high-profile activists for sexual minority rights.  Over the years Rick has forged alliances with organizations such as Operation PUSH, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Chicago Catholic Women, Protestants for the Common Good, as well as with Republicans, Democrats and Independents to seek passage of local, state and national laws to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

In 1986, Rick helped lead the final stages in the fifteen-year struggle to pass a Chicago ordinance against sexual-orientation discrimination. In 1988, after organizing the Gay and Lesbian Town Meeting, Rick and his associates worked for and achieved the historic passage of the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance.  Seeing this as the beginning and not the end of the battle for equal rights protections, he turned his attention to a campaign for securing similar protection at the county level and in1993, the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance was enacted. Garcia also was instrumental in passing Chicago’s Domestic Partner Benefits Ordinance, Chicago’s Hate Crimes Ordinance, Cook County Domestic Partner Registry and Chicago’s Gender Identity Ordinance.

In 1991, Rick was one of the principal founders of the Illinois Federation for Human Rights, now known as Equality Illinois – one of the largest and most effective advocacy organizations in the Midwest.

Serving as Equality Illinois’ founding Executive Director and now Director of Public Policy, Rick has helped develop local lobbying units throughout the state and worked closely with local organizations to pass non-discrimination ordinances in numerous municipalities in central and southern Illinois. Garcia has made countless appearances in mass communications media to advocate for LGBT rights throughout Illinois and has advised elected and appointed officials throughout the state on LGBT issues.

In 2005, two decades of Rick’s efforts culminated in the passage of an amendment adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the Illinois Human Rights Act.  The law prohibits discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations and credit transactions.

In 2006, Rick spearheaded Fair Illinois – a group of fair-minded organizations and hundreds of individuals who stopped an anti-gay marriage amendment referendum from being placed on the 2006 ballot in Illinois.  Later that year, Rick persuaded Illinois’ governor to extend domestic partner benefits to LGBT employees of the State of IllinoisRick was appointed to the Governor’s Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes in 1998 and 2002. 

He currently serves on Congressman Mike Quigley’s Advisory Council on LGBT Issues, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Advisory Council on LGBT Issues and advises numerous Republican and Democrat elected officials and candidates for public office on LGBT issues.

Garcia’s work has been recognized by the Illinois State Bar Association, the 2009 Vanguard Award from the Chicago Bar Association, and the readers of Chicago Free Press have voted Garcia “Best Local GLBT Activist” for eight of the last nine years