I am still exhausted from the emotional roller-coaster ride that has forever etched the week of Equality Begins at Home into my memory. As I drove with Ellen Meyers to Champaign for a final EBAH event, I couldn't help but mention just how dejected I felt because HB474 has been defeated. I felt that we had failed. But Ellen told me, very firmly I might add, to look at what we had accomplished over the past months, which culminated during the week of March 21-27. We had the most successful Lobby Day ever in Springfield. Over 350 people came from all over the state to spend the day lobbying. Each year the numbers are growing! And mainstream press from all over Illinois covered the rally. We had a rally in Chicago. The rally wasn't held on the weekend in Lakeview. No! It was held right in the heart of Chicago, at the Daley Center, in the middle of a busy workday for city and county employees. We had over 500 people there. We had banners from dozens of our groups flying proudly. We placed a wreath at the eternal flame to honor the GLBT veterans who have given their lives for this country. |
We had events not only in Chicago, but also in Peoria, Decatur, Bloomington, Springfield, Champaign, Urbana, Naperville, and other cities where gay rights are not taken for granted as they have come to be in the big city. The mayors of Champaign and Urbana even signed a resolution calling for the passage of HB474. Now, I know that this column is subtitled "Images of the Transgender Community." From where I was standing last week, the transgender image that was most apparent was the complete unity of the GLBT community. Our presence was significant only in its numbers. Last year, there was an article in the Springfield newspaper following the '98 Lobby Day. The headline said something cute about drag queens in the Capitol. Lana Hostetler, the Illinois Federation for Human Rights lobbyist, called up the paper the very next day. She said to the editor, "Yes, you are correct, there were drag queens in the Capitol yesterday. They were the ones wearing suits and ties. The people you are referring to are called 'transgendered'." The paper didn't make that same mistake again. |
Lana was like that. Every individual had value, and the rights of every individual were worth fighting for. She fought for the rights of women and children, for gays and lesbians, and, in the last two years of her life, for the rights of gender variant people. Equality Begins at Home in Illinois was dedicated to the memory of Lana Hostetler. What a tribute it was to Lana to have the largest Lobby Day ever this year, with hundreds of us in the Capitol talking to representatives and senators, lobbying for human rights just like Lana did every day of her life. I cried several times that Lobby Day. Especially when the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus sang our national anthem in the Capitol Rotunda. I looked up to the 3rd floor, where earlier that week the House of Representatives had voted against our human rights, where my own state senator looked me in the eye and said he would never vote for gay rights, and I couldn't hold back the tears. In this "land of the free", the only ones with special rights are those who are denying us our freedom. We may have lost a battle in the House of Representatives last week, but only by one vote! We are winning this war. Through EBAH we have reached more people than ever, we have brought together groups and individuals that have never worked together before, we have most definitely accomplished the first goal… to strengthen and unite the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. |
We
had Governor Ryan, Lt. Governor Wood, Secretary of State White,
Treasurer Topinka, Comptroller Hynes, and Attorney General Ryan
all sign a letter endorsing legislation which would safeguard
the rights of all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people
in Illinois.