In an interview with Kat Sachs highlighting trans elders in Chicago, Lonnie Kenebrew recalls what means to bloom on your own time. Check out the full interview here 👇
Lonnie Kenebrew
Kenebrew is far along in his transition, awaiting the second part of his bottom surgery. Still, “I’ve been involved with the community,” he says, “in the midst of my transition and everything.” He recalls a memory that has now taken on a different meaning. “We just saw a video my brother did of my mother . . . and she said, ‘Lonnie is very intelligent, but Lonnie is a late bloomer.’ She didn’t realize how much she meant,” he says. “So I guess I’m blooming late, but I’m blooming!”
In addition to his volunteer work, Kenebrew also participates in the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project, a combined effort of the Center on Addison at Center on Halsted, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The project connects elderly members of the LGBTQ+ community with LGBTQ+ college students. In their biweekly encounters, the group shares a meal and engages in dialogue around various LGBTQ+ concerns.
All in all, “it was a joy to find out the truth, that I was transgender,” he says. “The joy is me discovering myself and discovering who I am today.” What’s love got to do with it? In this case, everything.Allie n Steve Mullen at their recording studio at home in Irving Park. Credit: Victor Hilitski forAllie n Steve Mullen, 66, is a composer and adjunct associate professor of art and technology at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Early on in my transition, I had a neighbor whom I read as hypermasculine. One day, I came around the corner walking my dog, and he was out raking. I thought, OK, well, here goes nothing. He did that thing where he looked me up and down. Then, he put the rake down and said, “Steve, this is a good look for you.”
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