Allen died
Monday (13 June) in her apartment at an LGBTQ+ senior resident home in Chicago,
Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Luchina
Fisher, director of a documentary about Allen’s life, told the
Tribune that it’s believed Allen died in her sleep.
Fischer
described Allen as a “legend” in the LGBTQ+
community. She came out in the 60s, before the Stonewall riots and the “word
transgender even existed”.
“Her life is a
testament to the love her mother, grandmother and other families poured into
her, and the love that she shared with her chosen children and the world,”
Fisher said.
“I am so
grateful that she allowed me to share her story with the world. She has touched
so many lives. And she got to experience it all.”
Fisher
told People Mama Gloria lived as an
“unapologetically proud Black transgender woman” and that her life proved that
“Black trans women can live long, meaningful and joyous lives when they have
the love and support of their families, as Gloria did”.
“She touched
so many people around the world, and she died being honoured and celebrated the
way a legend should be,” Fisher added.
Allen was born
on 6 October, 1945, in Bowling Green, Kentucky but grew up in Chicago, where
she would later become a local institution.
She told People in 2021 that growing up as a
trans girl was “rough in the 50s and 60s”.
‘But I was
tough,” she added. “My mother and grandmother accepted me, but some of my
siblings were ashamed of me.”
Allen
told NBC News that she didn’t have “all the
tools that they have out today for the younger people”.
“So I had to
do my own thing, and I did it,” she added.
“I walked with
my head up high due to my family. I didn’t know anything about lesbians and
gays, because we didn’t have any rights back then.”
She would go
on to work as a certified licensed practice nurse at the University of Chicago
Medical Center and also worked as a private nurse’s aide.
Throughout her
life, Mama Gloria was passionate about mentoring and engaging with LGBTQ+
youth.
She launched a
charm school for young trans people at Chicago’s Center on Halsted. The school
taught lessons on love, makeup, manners, etiquette and more which were passed
down to Allen from her mother and grandmother.
Allen
told People that she wanted to teach the young queer kids who
came through her doors to “be proud” and make sure they were looked
after.
“I cooked for
them, listened to them and taught them etiquette,” she said. “I thought of them
as my chosen children.”
Her school and
life story served as inspiration for Philip Dawkins’ 2015 play Charm,
which premiered in Chicago before running in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, New York
and Washington DC.
Allen’s story
was also featured in Fisher’s documentary, Mama Gloria, which
premiered in October 2020 at the Chicago International Film Festival. It won
the jury award for best documentary at the Teaneck International Film Festival
and best film at the Cineodyssey Film Festival.
Mama
Gloria was also nominated for a GLAAD Media Award.
In 2021,
Allen received the Carmen Vázquez SAGE Award for Excellence
in Leadership on Aging Issues at Creating Change for her strong leadership and
trailblazing advocacy.
Allen is
survived by several siblings, a host of nieces and nephews and her “chosen
family”.
SOURCE: PINK NEWS
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