3 PM, short rally outside of Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark Street, followed by a march through the community to Gerber Hart Library, 1127 W. Granville Street where there will be a reception with the Iranian Queer Organization's Executive Director Arsham Parsi (see notice below for details).
International
Day
Against
HOmophobia
IDAHO, International Day Against HOmophobia — commemorated in much of Europe and Latin America as a day to protest anti-LGBT hate and discrimination around the world — is coming to Chicago for the first time this year.
Why IDAHO?
International homophobia ranges from anti-gay executions in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, government bans on LGBT people assembling in Singapore, Serbia and Russia, and anti-LGBT murders in whole host of countries around the world, including the United States.
International publicity and pressure can help reduce some of the worst of these abuses. Until recently in Warsaw, Poland, for example, Pride attendees (at most, a few hundred very brave LGBT people) were routinely physically attacked by neo-fascist thugs and then arrested by the authorities for good measure. Thanks in part to international pressure, last year the Warsaw authorities were finally forced to grant a permit for Pride, and over 20,000 attended as a result.
This year IDAHO in Chicago will focus on the dire situation faced by Russian LGBT people who, since they began having Pride nearly three years ago, have faced government bans, arrests and beatings by anti-gay thugs. Please join us for a march through Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood to raise awareness about the plight of Russian gays, and ask that people contact the Russian government to demand that it cease its attacks on LGBT people.
Assemble:
3 PM, Saturday, May 17th
Outside of Women & Children First Bookstore
5233 N. Clark Street
(corner of Clark & Farragut Streets, one block north of Foster).
Pictured: Karen Rothstein ( left ) , Aurora Pineda and their son.
Photo by Yasmin Nair
Rainbow flags dotted the landscape of this year's May Day rally, as an amorphous LGBTQ contingent marched along with groups demanding the legalization of the undocumented; worker's rights; and an end to raids and deportations. While official tallies put the numbers at about 15,000, Jorge Mujica of the March 10 Movement ( a key organizing group ) put the number closer to 50,000 in a post-march interview. Marchers felt that while the numbers were fewer than last year's, the issues were still as tangible for queers and immigrants.
This was not the first time that queers have marched at the May Day immigration rally, but it was the first time that queer groups had issued a call-out to organize under rainbow flags. At the rally itself, several queer immigrants marched along with groups like the youth contingent of the March 10 Movement, while others looked to march under the rainbow flag as the official queer block. The LGBTQ presence seemed, at first, to consist largely of non-immigrants, a fact commented on by some.
Mariela Alburges was among those who came to march as part of the queer contingent: “I'm definitely here because of the call-out.” She was positive about the potential for solidarity among queers and immigrants, but she also said, “A lot of the visibility is being taken or being overshadowed by the white queer community. … It's important for [ our ] allies to also acknowledge that we need more queer immigrant leaders to be out here. The front lines don't have to be headed by white queer men. I am a little worried about how we're organizing ourselves.”
One young non-immigrant marcher acknowledged the largely white queer presence but said, “It's mostly but not exclusively white. ... A lot of the LGBT organizing is racially divided; a lot of it is white-focused.” She spoke about the need for solidarity, a word that echoed through the crowd.
The queer contingent was eventually joined by ALMA ( Association of Latino Men for Action ) . Opinions on what constituted queer immigrant issues varied based on how the marchers identified themselves, and there seemed to be some confusion about the issue of marriage and binational couples. While many spoke about the need for what Andy Thayer of GLN ( Gay Liberation Network ) called “equal naturalization rights for binational couples,” they were surprised to learn that the issue only affects documented people.
There was more clarity about the war on Iraq, as this year's rally was the first one to take on an explicitly anti-war agenda. An organizer with the March 10 Movement said this was because “a lot of immigrants … are at the front lines of the war,” and because there has been a significant shift in public attitudes towards the war. Thayer, whose group is involved in anti-war efforts, spoke about immigration issues and the war, and the possible reasons for the dip in attendees: “People are frustrated because they come out against the war but politicians have ignored us. We are at a march today whose central demand is legalization but that is not at on the agenda of any of the major presidential candidates. Instead, you've got Barack Obama appropriating the immigration slogan ‘Sí, se puede' ( ‘Yes, we can' ) but supporting building the damn border fence. That is crass opportunism at its worst.”
In talking about the smaller numbers, Thayer acknowledged people's frustration but also said that “some people are [ living with ] the mistaken notion that Santa Claus is going to come on Nov. 4, and they're in for a very rude awakening. ... These issues aren't going to go away.” For queer immigrants at the march, the issues were somewhat different, as were the reasons why there might be fewer people. Nicole Perez, who has ties to the immigrant community, said: “I know people who are getting deported because of no-match letters. People who are undocumented, afraid in a world where fear is a real issue, who couldn't get out of work ... Safety is an intense issue. I'm here for my family, people who are undocumented, too afraid to march, people who can't take the time to march.”
For Alburges, the march was about, “basic healthcare access … the basic recognition of us being immigrant as well as queer … and of [ not ] having to choose between our identities … between my latinidad and my queerness.” Jorge Cestou spoke about equal marriage rights for queers: “We have the same challenges as the mainstream gay community—marriage is not recognized between gays and we have to deal with [ the fact that ] we cannot immigrate our partners.”
This year's rally also saw a larger youth presence than at previous rallies. Mujica pointed out that “these are the sons and daughters of those who marched in previous years. Many can't vote because they're under 18, or are undocumented, or have parents who are undocumented. So the alternative is to march.”
Overall, most were positive about the effects of a queer presence at the march, and thought that it furthered what Perez called a “multi-issue agenda.” Aurora Pineda pointed out the difference from previous years, where she and her partner, Karen Rothstein, had felt gawked at. Rothstein missed the queer spectacle of last year's march, but for Pineda, “There's great energy; [ queers are ] so sure of themselves. They [ the people marching ] don't give a fuck.” Pineda and Rothstein brought their three-month-old son to the march, and their presence dovetailed with the cries for preserving families that rang throughout the march.
Same-sex marriage opponents failed to collect enough signatures to place an advisory referendum on the November ballot.
Protect Marriage Illinois ( PMI ) had previously boasted that they would turn in 300,000 signatures to the Illinois State Board of Elections by the May 5 deadline. In order to place an advisory referendum that would ask state legislatures to amend the constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman on the ballot, supporters would have had to turn in 270,000 valid signatures.
According to the Springfield Journal-Register, PMI did not file by the deadline.
"By failing to even file petitions for an anti-gay ballot referendum, the ‘Protect Marriage' bigots reveal themselves to be a weakened threat—at least for the moment,”Gay Liberation's Bob Schwartz told Windy City Times.
The recent news of PMI's failure does not mean that LGBT people no longer have to fight continued opposition when attempting to obtain equality.
“However, forward movement for our equality is by no means guaranteed, as shown by the 67-43 defeat of the same-sex partner benefits bill for Chicago teachers, a rebuke delivered by the Illinois House where Democrats hold a 15-vote majority,” Schwartz continued.
PMI has failed before. During a similar effort in 2006, the organization did not collect enough valid signatures. The State Board of Elections refused to certify PMI's call for a non-binding referendum.
States across the country have passed anti-same-sex marriage amendments.
April 29, 2008 - Five LGBT Groups Work Together For May Day Immigrant Rights March!
April 16, 2008 - LGBT Contingent In Big May 1st Immigrant Rights March!
April 10, 2008 - Mumia Abu-Jamal Is Innocent! Free Mumia Now! Abolish the Racist Death Penalty!
March 16, 2008 - Join the LGBT Contingent At Wednesday's Big Anti-War March!
March 6, 2008 - March 19-20: 5th Anniversary of the Iraq War Actively Oppose This Immoral War!
March 6, 2008 - GLN's Buddy Bell & 2 Other Anti-Bush Protesters Face Trial Friday
March 6, 2008 - March 13: "Ex-Gay" Fraud to be Promoted In the Chicago Area – Join us in PROTEST!
January 31, 2008 - This Saturday - Hold the Candidates Accountable for LGBT Rights!
04-23-2008 - Windy City Times - LGBTs part of May 1 immigration march
03-19-2008 - Chicago Tribune - Iraq war protesters make selves heard in Chicago and elsewhere on anniversary of invasion Downtown rally, march mimic events nationwide
03-12-2008 - Windy City Times - GLN to protest ‘ex-gay' publisher
03-07-2008 - Queerty.com - Protest For Ex-Gay Publisher [picture]
01-08-2008 - Chicago Sun Times - 4 war protesters arrested after attempt to stop Bush motorcade
11-30-2007 - In These Times - Dark Side of Russia’s Rainbow [picture]
11-21-2007 - Windy City Times - WEEK OF ‘T’ RIGHTS: Trans protest, confront HRC in Chicago [pictures]
11-21-2007 - Windy City Times - Suit claims suburban cops bashed gay, poz man [picture]
Our Iranian friends in the Iranian Queer Organization (www.irqo.net) have asked people around the world to sign an on-line petition protesting the continuing use of the death penalty against gays and others in their country. Given the current threat of a United States military attack on Iran, we strongly suggest that those signing from the U.S. also say in the "comments" section that they very much oppose such an attack. To sign the petition, please go to:
Take the Pledge to Prevent an Anti-Gay Constitutional Amendment in Illinois
The religious right has been on a crusade to turn back the clock on rights for gays, women and any other people who don't fit their rigidly constructed theocracy. In 2008, they might once again try for a referendum to put hate in the Illinois constitution.
Recently they passed an anti-gay constitutional amendment in nearby Wisconsin, making 25 states where Lesbians and Gays are now official second class citizens, where our people are losing health, pension and other benefits that came with the meager partnership rights that we had previously won. In 2008 there likely will be a referendum on the Massachusetts state ballot to overthrow equal marriage rights in the one state where we have them.
If the bleeding away of our rights is to stop, regular folks like ourselves will need to organize and demonstrate for them -- to say NO MORE! This is the way rights have always been won in the past. This is the way we must defend them -- and expand them -- today.
If an anti-gay constitutional amendment gets on the ballot in Illinois, all of us must mobilize to defeat the measure through large rallies, actions at the marriage license bureau, and other non-violent ways. Should the citizens of Illinois then vote to put hate into the constitution, we must take the extraordinary step of occupying the marriage license bureau.
Such a vote would not automatically put the anti-gay amendment into the constitution -- the legislature would have to do that. But the legislature could cave into "public opinion" unless we energetically respond to the anti-gay vote. We must be prepared to respond with a powerful demonstration of our refusal to go quietly into the night -- an occupation of a government office which is as much our right to have access to as anyone else's.
Please sign our pledge to stand up to the religious right's attacks on Lesbians and Gays.
Pledge to Defend
Lesbian & Gay Rights
I, __________ (please print your name), pledge to help occupy the marriage license bureau if the voters pass a referendum advocating an anti-gay constitutional amendment here in Illinois. I understand that this may involve a risk of arrest, but that in the history of our country, civil rights progress has often only been won by breaking unjust and bigoted laws.
Signature:Street Address:City / State / ZIP:Telephone number (s):Email address:
Please return to: Gay Liberation Network, 4404 N. Magnolia, Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60640
"Formed in response to three September '98 anti-gay bashings in the "Boy's Town" neighborhood…[we] respond to all serious hate crimes, no matter which scapegoated group is targeted. We will actively seek out and work with individuals and organizations in other communities to assist them in responding to hate crimes that target them. Only by the active involvement of grass roots people from all communities can we isolate the bigots and thus lessen hate crimes."
-- from the GLN/CABN founding statement
Gay Liberation Network
(formerly Chicago Anti-Bashing Network)
a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Direct Action Group
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