COUNTY PASSES TRANS RIGHTS ORDINANCE

By Gary Barlow

Staff writer

The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted 14-1 Nov. 19 to
outlaw discrimination against gender variant people in the nation's second
largest county.

The board added gender identity to the list of protected classes in the
county's human rights ordinance.

"I hope that Cook County will serve as an example for other governments to move forward in adding gender identity to their human rights ordinances so that everyone will be able to share the same fundamental right to protection from discrimination," said Comm. Mike Quigley (10th District).

Quigley led the effort to pass the measure, working for two years with
Miranda Stevens-Miller, legislative director of Illinois Gender Advocates
(formerly It's Time Illinois), to draft the amendment and build a consensus
for its passage.

"I cannot imagine a more decent and compassionate public servant,"
Stevens-Miller said of Quigley.

Only Comm. Carl Hansen (15th District), the most steadfast GLBT-rights opponent on the board, voted against the measure, with Comm. Gregg Goslin (14th District) voting "present."

The action came just two weeks after the Chicago City Council passed a
similar amendment to the city's human rights ordinance. That ordinance
covers the city's nearly 3 million residents; the county's move extends the
same protections to another 2.5 million Cook County residents who do not live in Chicago.

"I am thrilled that Cook County so quickly joined with Chicago to provide the same rights and protections to our community," said IGA chair Beth Plotner. "And as a suburban Cook County resident, I am overjoyed that I can finally stand up and say, 'I have rights.'"

At Quigley's urging, the board moved quickly on the measure, lessening the opportunity for opponents to organize against it. The day before the
board's vote, the amendment was introduced and passed by the board's
human relations committee.

Bill Greaves, director of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations'
Advisory Council on LGBT Issues, in testimony to the county board
committee, said many people mistakenly believe transgenders are
protected under ordinances banning discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender.

"This hasn't proved true," Greaves testified. "Since 1990 the Chicago
Commission on Human Relations has received several complaints in which the gender expression of the complainant was the basis for the
discrimination. In 1996 a legal ruling allowed that such discrimination could be filed under the category of disability, but not under sex and not, at least not with the facts in that case, under sexual orientation."

The gender identity amendment, Greaves testified, "would close this
loophole."

Two states-Minnesota and Rhode Island-and at least 51 local jurisdictions, including New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Dallas, specifically prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. Cook County became the 11th jurisdiction in the United States this year to pass such a measure.

No such move is pending nationally-gender identity and expression are not covered by the proposed federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act. But in Illinois, House Bill 101, awaiting approval in the Illinois General Assembly, would cover sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.

Rick Garcia, political director of Equality Illinois, said he hopes "other
jurisdictions join Cook County in protecting all their citizens."

"Trans people are some of the most abused and violated people in our
society," Garcia said. "The Cook County Board has sent the unambiguous message that all people in Cook County, including the gender variant, must be treated fairly and with respect."