Karen Mackey was born in Sioux City in 1956. She attended Longfellow and Whittier Elementary Schools, Hayworth Junior High and high school at “Old East High” and graduated from East High.

Jeanne Calhoun was born at St. Vincents Hospital in 1952 (named after a nun at the hospital). She attended St. Josephs Elementary School and Heelan High School. In 1981 she and her partner Sue Emmons opened Rowdies Lounge, located at 4th and Iowa Streets, Sioux City’s first gay bar.

Born in Albany, New York, Ryan attended seminary at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California where they graduated with a Master of Divinity. In 2012 Ryan accepted an invitation to pastor First Congregational Church in Sioux City, which they served until December 2019.

Connie Jones was born in 1956 in Cherokee, Iowa. She attended Alta Community School (all grades) and Dana College, where she graduated with a degree in Fine Arts and Commercial Arts. After college, Connie lived in Alta, IA for five years before moving to Sioux City in 1983.

Tim Orwig was born in 1959 and grew up in rural Northwest Iowa. He attended Kindergarten – 7th grade at West Bend-Rodman School, 8th – 10th at Rolfe Community School District and 11-12th at Sioux City’s West High. Orwig attended Morningside College, graduating in 1980.

Born in Sioux City in 1945, Michael Scott attended Immaculate Conception School and later Heelan High School. Late, Michael served as a priest for nine years in the Diocese of Sioux City. He co-founded Dignity Siouxland, a local chapter of Dignity USA which was a lay movement of LGBT Catholics. Dignity Siouxland served as a beacon of hope to both out and closeted LGBT individuals and their families.

Vicky Whitmore was born in 1959 in Sioux City, Iowa. Whitmore had seven siblings and spent most of her childhood in foster care, left school in the 9th grade and later completed her GED. Born as Richard Bling Whitmore, Vicky transitioned from Rick to Vicky in 2005.