Resume:
*Founded non-profit group LGBT Change- now has over 4,000 followers on Facebook as well as countless volunteers all over Chicago.
*Sitting Executive Director of The Civil Rights Agenda- a year old non-profit organization that has become the medias steadfast knowledge source for facts and opinions on GLBT issues in Chicago.
*Sitting senior board member on Equality Illinois, Test Positive Aware Network, AIDS Foundation of Chicago, and Association for Latino Men of Action.
Anthony Martinez has accomplished a great deal throughout his life- a great deal, all before the ripe age of 30.
“I hated this year’s birthday”, said Martinez as he drank from a large gallon jug of water at a coffee shop on the corner of Clark and Leland. “You do know, 30 is the new 60 in gay years”.
Martinez, in a black Ralph Lauren Polo Shirt and khaki shorts, looks like any other young gay man living in the up-and-coming Uptown area of Chicago.
He complains about the humidity messing with his hair, he compliments a nearby coffee shop patron on their tennis shoes, and, of course, is constantly checking his phone.
But the unassuming young activist is perhaps becoming the most powerful young gay voice in all of Chicago.
In only the past two years he has been quoted in every single large Chicago-land newspaper, has appeared multiple times in debate on WGN and FOX 30, and single-handedly organized a Chicago Civil Union event that was featured in national news outlets across the country.
Anthony Martinez is not your normal young gay man.
Yet, just two years ago, Martinez had been working for a Real Estate agency in Chicago.
“It was so boring”, said Martinez. “I felt as though I was in a waiting room- waiting to do something bigger with my life”.
And something bigger he did.
In March, Martinez was named Executive Director by the 12 member board of The Civil Rights Agenda- the youngest Executive Director of any Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) organization in the city.
The organization focuses on establishing civil rights for the GLBT community in Chicago and as well as all over the state of Illinois. The Civil Rights Agenda works with local media outlets, lawmakers, and the people of Illinois in order to gain equality and acceptance by changing not only minds, but laws as well.
“I was ecstatic”, said Martinez when he found out he had been named Executive Director. “It was nice to be recognized for all the work I had done with LGBT Change”.
Martinez started LGBT Change two years ago following the Obama inauguration. He was inspired by the activism that Chicago played electing the nation’s first black president.
LGBT Change was Martinez first venture into creating a non-profit on his own. In the years prior to starting the organization, he had belonged to many different GLBT groups in Chicago, but always thought he would be better at the helm.
“I wanted to be the one to call the shots”, said Martinez. “I had been involved in GLBT organizations since college, but now I have the ability to put forth my vision for equality”.
Martinez admits that he did not always want to be in the gay rights spotlight. In fact, for most of his life, all he wanted to do is blend in.
Martinez grew up in the outskirts of Albuquerque, New Mexico. At a young age he knew he wasn’t the same as everyone else.
“I think when you try to like girls like everyone else and then you realize that it’s just not working out, you feel removed”, said Martinez.
Martinez parents got divorced when he was a young child, and both have since remarried. He lived with his mother and his two sisters.
“Growing up my mom and sisters bonded through Hispanic traditions in our neighborhood”, said Martinez. “My grandparents spoke Spanish, and taught us a lot about Hispanic culture”.
Martinez pointed out that his family could be traced from the direct linage of Conquistadores from Spain who settled a mission outside of Albuquerque.
“Knowing that piece of my family history made me proud to be Hispanic”, said Martinez. “I didn’t know it at the time, but it made me who I am today”.
Adam Dempenwolf, a long time friend of Martinez from Albuquerque who now also lives in Chicago, says that his Hispanic heritage helped him be the activist he is today.
“He is such a strong person and he always has been”, said Dempenwolf. “And I think part of that had to do with his Hispanic heritage.”
Martinez dated girls throughout high school until he decided he couldn’t hide his sexuality any longer. He first came out to his mom and his two sisters.
“They were like, ‘So what, that’s nothing new’”, Martinez said, laughing to himself. “It was my Dad that was the problem”.
Martinez said that his Dad almost deterred him from getting into activism.
“I came out to him and he called me a ‘faggot’ and hung up the phone”, said Martinez. “I didn’t talk to him for almost a year. But, after he realized he would lose his son, came around”.
After Martinez graduated from high school, he went to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa where he became heavily involved in the school’s gay organization, BEPROUD.
“After that, I knew what I wanted to be involved in GLBT activism”, said Martinez.
After graduation in 2002, Martinez moved to Chicago and worked in Real Estate. He then started volunteering for various organizations before starting LGBT Change and being subsequently named Executive Director for The Civil Rights Agenda.
“I was a part of a lot of different gay organizations when I first moved to Chicago”, said Martinez. “But ALMA had the biggest impact on me”.
