I can hardly believe it. After years of trying to get some momentum going behind transgender inclusion in Chicago's Human Rights Ordinance, it seems like we are finally making some progress. We can't let this opportunity slip through our fingers, so I am asking each of you to help make it happen. If you've read my columns over the years, if you've found them interesting, if you've enjoyed them, if they've aroused any emotion, even if they've angered you, then please let me know that you care. Just pick up a pen and write a letter to support the transgender amendment. Here's some background information… It's been over a year and half since Alderman Billy Ocasio (26th Ward) and Alderman Bernard Hansen (44th Ward) introduced an ordinance to amend the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance and Fair Housing Ordinance with an expanded definition of gender. There has been very little action on the proposed ordinance since that time. Over the past seven years, It's Time, Illinois has worked
extremely hard to put all the pieces into place so that the amendment
would have every chance of success. We have documented the need
for this type of protection in Chicago through our annual reports
on discrimination and hate crimes. We have obtained backing of
the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, and we have support
of many of the aldermen. |
This coming Friday, April 26, It's Time, Illinois is having a press conference to release its 2002 Report on Discrimination and Hate Crimes Based on Gender Identity and Expression. The report contains 30 new cases, bringing the total to nearly 100 cases that we've documented since we started the discrimination project in 1995. You've read some of the cases over the years in the pages of the Windy City Times. Remember when the DuSable Museum denied Lorrainne Sade Baskerville space for a fundraiser? Remember the stories of Karl Warren and his partner and their transgender daughter, and how they were denied service, ridiculed, and then mistreated by the police? Remember the sad story of Logan Smith? All of the stories that have appeared in the media, and many, many more that were gathered by It's Time Illinois over our hotline or by personal interviews, are documented in these reports. The latest report has attracted the attention of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, and it has sparked renewed interest in passing the transgender-inclusive amendment to the Chicago Human Rights ordinance. Clarence Wood, Chairman of the Commission, will speak at the press conference, as will Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-4 and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-9, as well as other elected officials. We think that this will attract a lot of media attention. But with the glare of the spotlight focused squarely on transgender
rights, we've got to expect that there may be some controversy
as well. |
So we are planning a preemptive strike. That is where you come in. We need as many of our allies as possible to write to Mayor Daley and to their aldermen in support of transgender inclusion. The time is now! Before the opposition has a chance to react. If you live or work in the City of Chicago, this is the time to contact Mayor Daley and your alderman by mail or email. Here's all you need to do… First tell the Mayor that you are part of his constituency, you live or work in Chicago, and your basic rights are threatened every day because gender identity is not included in the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance. Tell him that basic rights are not special rights... that the right to hold a job that you are qualified to hold, to obtain housing that you can afford, to be served in a restaurant or to be treated at the hospital are not special rights. And finally, tell him that he can change all that by supporting the Ocasio/Hansen amendment and by urging swift action to get the amendment passed. If you go to the It's Time, Illinois web site (www.genderadvocates.org), and click on the Law/Policy page, you will find the text of the amendment, as well as talking points and position statements related to the proposed ordinance. You may write to Mayor Richard M. Daley at 121 N. LaSalle Street, Room 507, Chicago, IL 60602. Or contact him by email at: MayorDaley@CityofChicago.org. To find out who your alderman is, or how to contact your alderman,
go to the Chicago City Council website at www.cityofchicago.org/CityCouncil/. |
Miranda Writes...