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Politically, McKeon came of age in the 90s, an opportune time for gay politicians in Chicago. Mayor Daley, son of Bridgeport, had decided that it would be politically worth his while to build an alliance with the city’s north-side gay community. In 1992 he hired McKeon to be his liaison to the gay and lesbian communities.
Four years later, in 1996, Daley gave McKeon his blessing to run for state rep in what would become the 13th District, which includes parts of Uptown, Ravenswood, Andersonville, and North Center. The seat was open because incumbent Nancy Kaszak was stepping down to run for Congress, and 47th Ward Democratic committeeman Ed Kelly had put up his own guy, Luke Howe. McKeon’s Daley connection — which he played up on his campaign literature — helped him defeat the machine candidate by convincing conservative Democrats that it was OK to vote for the gay guy. I still bump into folks who tell me their allegiance to Daley will never die because he helped elect McKeon.
