In 2000, Windy City Times established an award to acknowledge the young movers and shakers of the LGBT community: the 30 Under 30 Awards. Thirty young activists, journalists, students, HIV/AIDS volunteers and performers who were each under the age of 30 were honored for their achievements in moving the LGBT community forward. Each year since, another 30 get their day in the sun.Awards were presented at the Center on Halsted Tuesday, June 24, 2008. Please follow the links to read about this year’s honorees.
JEN RUDE “30 UNDER 30” HONOREE
Jen Rude is a 28-year-old Pisces. She knows all the 50 states in alphabetical order and has lived in six of them, having moved to Chicago three years ago. Although as a child she aspired to be the first woman president of the United States, she currently serves as associate pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Lakeview and on the Youth Outreach Team at The Night Ministry ( working with young people who are experiencing homelessness and queer youth ) . Rude was the 12th “extraordinarily” ordained queer Lutheran pastor in November 2007. She graduated from Augustana College in South Dakota, and then thought she would try a more progressive and queer-friendly area of the country. In Berkeley, Cal., she earned her Master’s from Pacific School of Religion and learned why the city is affectionately nicknamed “Bezerkeley.” Her favorite things about Chicago include the lake, summer festivals, public transit and Midwestern friendliness.
DID YOU KNOW? A childhood gymnast, Rude has been sighted more than once doing cartwheels on the streets of Chicago. Her first job was at Dairy Queen and she continues to love ice cream and all things sugary. As for her childhood, although she doesn’t remember it, surely her subconscious is still working through the trauma of the time when she was two and a half years old and she slept through the whole night with a dead mouse in the foot of her pajamas. She is not a fan of animals to this day.
Reprinted from: http://www.wctimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=18731