Gloria Allen, most widely known as Mama Gloria, a Chicago transgender icon and activist who was the subject of an award-winning documentary and a critically-acclaimed play, died Monday morning in her Lakeview apartment at 76 years old, according to Luchina Fisher, director of a documentary about Allen’s life.
She is believed to have died in her sleep, Fisher told the Tribune. Allen is survived by several siblings, a number of nieces and nephews and her “chosen family.”
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Fisher said Allen was a “legend” in the community who transitioned before the Stonewall riots in 1969 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.”
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Allen was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky on Oct. 6, 1945 but grew up in Chicago, Fisher said. After overcoming traumatic violence in high school, she came out and became a “proud leader in her community.”
She worked as a certified Licensed Practical Nurse at the University of Chicago Hospital and also worked as a private nurse’s aide. She went on to launch a charm school for young transgender people at Chicago’s Center on Halstead. The school taught love, makeup, manners and more that were passed down to her from her mother and grandmother.
Allen’s activism and story served as inspiration on stage in Philip Dawkin’s play “Charm,” which premiered at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Garage Theater before hitting Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and New York.
Her trans journey was then featured in Fisher’s documentary, “Mama Gloria.” The documentary was broadcast on “Afropop: the Ultimate Cultural Exchange” on World channel and PBS last year and was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award.
In 2021, she received SAGE’s Advocacy Award for Excellence in Leadership on Aging Issues at the National LGBTQ Task Force’s annual Creating Change Conference.
