FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS:
Peter Kostakis
(312) 744-1833
William Greaves
(312) 744-7911
Chicago Commission on Human Relations
November 6, 2002
CITY COUNCIL PASSES AMENDMENT TO CHICAGO HUMAN RIGHTS AND FAIR HOUSING ORDINANCES
The Chicago City Council today approved a measure amending the City's Human Rights and Fair Housing Ordinances and its personnel code. The change adds ''gender identity" to the protected categories of race, color, sex, age, religion, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, military discharge status, and source of income.
"Gender identity" means the actual or perceived appearance, expression, identity, or behavior, of a person as being male or female, whether or not that appearance, expression, identity or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the person's designated sex at birth. This change will bar discrimination against all people whose appearance or behavior is perceived to be outside of traditional gender norms, including transgender persons and others whose behavior does not conform to stereotypes of gender.
"I am proud that Chicago has set an example of standing by its gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities, providing domestic partnership benefits, proclaiming their achievements and contributions for everyone to acknowledge and appreciate, and now, extending legal protections against discrimination," Mayor Richard M. Daley said.
"This is a significant step forward in protecting a vulnerable group of citizens," declared Clarence N. Wood, Chairman of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. "The enhancement of the City's ordinances to promote fairness and equality proves that we are striving to be a trulybias-free city," Wood concluded.
"The amendment's passage has been a priority for our Council for four years: I applaud the many social justice advocates who worked tirelessly to reach this moment," commented Laura Rissover, who chairs the Commission's Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues. Prior to the passage of this amendment, the Council was known as the Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues.
Since the current Human Rights and Fair Housing Ordinances were passed in 1990, the Commission on Human Relations has received several complaints in which gender expression was the basis for the discrimination. In 1996, a legal ruling allowed that such discrimination could be filed under the category of "disability" and, when possible, that is how the Commission has adjudicated such cases. The amendment adopted today will close this loophole and provide a straightforward way to adjudicate these cases. The amendment also will provide a clear remedy for people who feel they are being discriminated against on the basis of their gender expression without their having to declare themselves disabled.
The Commission's formerly-titled Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues worked closely with Illinois Gender Advocates (formerly It's Time, Illinois!), the Chicago Department of Public Health Office of Violence Prevention, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund in framing the language of the ordinance and gaining support for it. Equality Illinois provided valuable and timely assistance in gaining acceptance for the ordinance.
Chicago joins at least 49 jurisdictions that have laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity, including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, New Orleans, Tucson, and San Francisco. Eighty-eight local and national organizations, including several local chambers of commerce, endorsed the efforts to add the category of gender identity to the Chicago Human Rights and Fair Housing Ordinances, and the Mayor's Office received hundreds of letters in support of these efforts.
A number of corporations nationwide include protections for gender identity in their personnel policies, including Walgreens, IBM, and American Airlines.