Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-02-22
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Dobson protesters picket Radio 'Hall of Shame'
by Amy Wooten
2008-11-12

This article shared 9661 times since Wed Nov 12, 2008
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


LGBT activists and their allies picketed outside Chicago's Renaissance Hotel Nov. 8, where Focus on the Family's James Dobson was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. Photo by Amy Wooten

Hundreds of LGBT activists and their allies braved the bitter cold Nov. 8 to demonstrate downtown against Focus on the Family's James Dobson.

An estimated 500 people, many of them young and new faces, gathered outside of Chicago's Renaissance Hotel, where Dobson was being awarded by the Chicago-based Museum of Broadcast Communications. For months, local and national LGBT activists planned to demonstrate against the museum's induction of Dobson into the National Radio Hall of Fame. Although the protest was initially going to be focused on the museum awarding Dobson, who has preached anti-gay hate over the airwaves for decades, many people also marched in solidarity against the passage of California's Proposition 8 that evening. Dobson played a pivotal role in Proposition 8's passage, and his group, Focus on the Family, donated $800,000 to the anti-gay-marriage measure. Proposition 8 banned same-sex marriage in California, and invalidated the marriages of thousands of gay and lesbian couples who wed during the time it was legal.

Chicago's Gay Liberation Network ( GLN ) and the New York-based organization Truth Wins Out ( TWO ) initiated the protest.

Although the demonstration had a large turnout, not all members of the LGBT community supported the protest. GLN co-founder Andy Thayer said that while some people did not understand why activists would want to bother protesting Dobson, brushed off as just another far-right bigot, he reminded those present that the Focus on the Family founder donated money to Proposition 8 and helped jump start the effort.

'Dobson's hate speech led to the retraction of our civil rights in California,' Thayer added. 'Hate speech has real consequences.'

Those present yelled chants, such as 'Hall of Shame,' throughout the evening, and felt that the Museum of Broadcast Communications showed a double standard by honoring an individual who is anti-gay.

According to Focus on the Family spokesperson Gary Schneeberger, roughly a quarter of the estimated 450-475 people who attended the museum's event in the hotel's banquet hall were from Focus on the Family. Tickets to attend the event started at $500 per person. Schneeberger told the gay press that he respected the protesters, saying they are just 'people exercising their first amendment right to free speech.' He added that free speech is 'something Dobson has been exercising and stressing for over 20 years.'

In addition to the protesting that took place outside of the hotel, a very small group of protestors went inside to deliver a 'certificate of bigotry' to Dobson. According to Gender Justice United for Societal Transformation's Sam Finkelstein, one man, Roger Fraser, was detained by the police. GLN confirmed that Fraser was charged with criminal trespass and was held at a police station at 18th and State streets before being released on an I-bond around 1:30 a.m.

TWO founder Wayne Besen told Windy City Times that he was 'thrilled' the demonstration had such a large turnout, which he felt was fueled by energy and anger over the passage of Proposition 8.

'There is a lot of restless energy,' Besen added. 'We need to turn this energy into tangible activism.'

Besen expressed optimism that LGBT will see some victories across the U.S. in the near future, especially under the leadership of President-elect Barack Obama. He called Proposition 8 a 'speed bump,' and said that there is hope, especially if people remained energized and involved. 'These moments like Dobson and Proposition 8 turn people from being passive to being involved,' he said. 'It it what happened to me when I was a young man.'

Local activists have already planned a follow-up protest against Proposition 8. It will take place Sat., Nov. 15, 12:30 p.m., at Federal Plaza. The Chicago protest is part of a series of nationwide protests also taking place on that day. See www.jointheimpact.com .


This article shared 9661 times since Wed Nov 12, 2008
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

NATIONAL Alabama protest, antibiotic, bi politician, high-school musicals, Key West 2023-05-12
- Alabama LGBTQ Action is urging the LGBTQ+ community and allies to join the group at a march on the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery on Tuesday, May 16, to demand equal rights for all state residents, ...


Gay News

WORLD Hungarian law, French official, anti-Uganda protest, Rahm Emanuel 2023-04-14
- Germany and France are joining the EU Commission's infringement proceedings against Hungary over its anti-LGBTQ+ law, according to NBC News. The European Commission referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU in mid-2022 over ...


Gay News

NATIONAL 'Don't Say Gay,' anti-trans bills, gay Irish leader visits, gay Calif. mayor 2023-03-25
- In Indiana, approximately 100 students from the Center For Inquiry School 27 held a walk-out to protest the state's "Don't Say Gay" bill, which would restrict how teachers are able to discuss sexual orientation or gender ...


Gay News

Protest held outside New Life Covenant Church over alleged anti-LGBTQ practices 2023-03-13
- Now-former New Life Covenant Church parishioner Rosaly Andino, who is a lesbian, and her allies gathered across the street from the church in the Humboldt Park neighborhood March 12 to protest alleged anti-LGBTQ practices by Pastor David Marrero. ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Drag shows, LGBTQ+ honors, Bragman memorial, Fred Karger 2023-03-04
Video below - Dozens of supporters turned out outside the Crazy Aunt Hellen's restaurant in D.C. in anticipation of a drag show's planned protest by the far-right group Proud Boys—but police said members of the far-right, neo-fascist organization didn' ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Help center, PrEP/PEP bill, gay pol weds, Creating Change protest 2023-02-24
- On Feb. 21, the LGBT National Help Center officially launched its newest program, the LGBT National Coming Out Support Hotline, per a press release. The hotline focuses specifically on the concerns of those who are struggling ...


Gay News

SAVOR Uproar; Feb. 2 benefit dinner 2023-01-19
- According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an uproar can be "a loud and impassioned noise or disturbance" or "a public expression of protest and outrage." Scott Horwitch—the owner of Old Town spot Uproar (1252 N. Wells ...


Gay News

WORLD Indian marches, delegation in Cuba, anti-LGBTQ+ investigation 2023-01-15
- Hundreds of people took part in the first Delhi Queer Pride march in three years as pressure grows for legal recognition of same-sex marriage in India, The Manila Times noted. In March, the South Asian's top ...


Gay News

Howard Brown strike reaches third day 2023-01-05
- Amid layoffs of 60 unionized and four non-union staffers at multiple Howard Brown Health (Howard Brown), Broadway Youth Center and Brown Elephant locations across Chicago, over 400 HBH Workers United non-nurse members represented by the Illinois ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH San Francisco Public Library digitizes LGBTQ+ archives, including Harvey Milk holdings 2022-10-09
LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH - Shot with black-and-white film, two small children stand outside in a San Francisco public plaza draped in protest signs. One reads, "We're Proud, Not Stigmatized." The other declares, "We Love Our Gay Parents." In the right ...


Gay News

WORLD Trans women elected, Zambia protest, Spice Girl, public figures come out 2022-10-09
Video below - On Oct. 2, two transgender women won seats in the Brazilian Congress, The Washington Blade reported. Voters in Sao Paulo elected Municipal Councilwoman Erika Hilton, a Black former sex worker who is a member of the ...


Gay News

UpRising Bakery hosts LGBTQ+ history event; protesters still a constant 2022-10-02
- A handful of anti-LGBTQ+ protesters regularly stand outside the mall that houses UpRising Bakery and Cafe in Northwest suburban Lake in the Hills. That was the case again Oct. 1, the start of LGBTQ+ History Month, ...


Gay News

Coalition decries Des Plaines candidate training sponsored by anti-LGBTQ+ groups 2022-09-25
- A coalition of parents, educators and pro-LGBTQ+, pro-equity groups held a press conference Sept. 24 in front of the Courtyard by Marriott Chicago O'Hare hotel in Des Plaines to protest a school-board candidate training being held ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Protests, Respect for Marriage Act, photographer, Fla. Democrat 2022-09-11
- The Inland Empire Pride festival in Riverside, California, was disrupted when far-right extremists demonstrated outside the event venue, The Advocate reported. Violent clashes erupted between protesters and those attending the ...


Gay News

Texas drag brunch brings out armed defenders, protesters 2022-08-30
- The attacks against drag brunches and related events continue around the country—resulting in people going to great lengths to allow the shows to take place. A group of people armed with AR-15-style assault rifles stood guard ...


 


Copyright © 2023 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives. Single copies of back issues in print form are
available for $4 per issue, older than one month for $6 if available,
by check to the mailing address listed below.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.
All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transegender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS






Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.