Passages: Michael ‘Makayla’ Gwinn, transgender youth

windycitymediagroup.com – by Kate Sosin, Windy City Times

Makayla/Michael Gwinn, a young transgender person whose life work was in mentoring fellow LGBTQ youth among other things died Feb. 16. Gwinn was 23.

An active performer, makeup artist and LGBTQ youth advocate, Gwinn loved life and worked to give back to Chicago’s LGBT community, said friends. Gwinn, who identified as transgender, used the names Michael, Mikayla and Jaiden as well as both male and female pronouns (a choice that is reflected in this article).