A crowd of several hundred gathered in Daley Plaza Oct. 11 to demand federal action to move forward rights for LGBT people. The rally, organized by local group LGBT Change, was planned in solidarity with the National Equality March taking place in Washington, D.C., on the same day.
Longtime activist Cleve Jones, one of the organizers of the march in Washington, told a Chicago crowd in August that he believed the chief demands of gay-rights groups should now be in the realm of the federal: federally-legislated marriage equality and an end to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.
And, indeed, speakers at the rallies here and in Washington urged community members to be advocates to their elected officials. Illinois comptroller Dan Hynes, a candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and the rally's first speaker, told the crowd, "There are some that urge incremental change. I say this: there is no such thing as incremental equality. … There is only full equality and that is what we must fight for."
Hynes claimed to be the only candidate for governor who supports full marriage rights for LGBT people.
Gerald Farinas, who is running for alderman in Chicago's 46th Ward, spoke about the need for sustained political action in order to bring about the LGBT commmunity's desired consequences: absent that action, Farinas said, "we are left with hope and nothing else."
Farinas twice asked attendees to hug the person standing next to them. "This is what our movement is about," he said, "coming together as a family."
Jim Madigan, a candidate for the Illinois State Senate, expressed disappointment in what he sees as the recalcitrance of the Democratic Party—the party, he said, "that we liked."
Madigan also had a message for younger activists, who made up much of the rally's attendees: "People my age and up are going to say to you [ to ] be more patient."
"Hell, no!" Madigan said.
Since Sunday was also National Coming Out Day, some speakers talked about the importance of LGBT visibility. Christine Heermann, who works with Illinois Gender Advocates, talked about her experiences, in relationships and in the workplace, coming out as a transwoman.
"I want four basic things," Heermann said. "I want to be seen. I want to be heard. I want to be touched. I want to be true. … The truth is what's standing in front of you."
Kim Hunt, the executive director of Affinity Community Services, compared her 10-year marriage to a man to her 10-year relationship with her current partner. "I was introduced as his wife, not his 'friend,'" Hunt said, "and people knew what that meant."
In addition to detailing the ways that her life is different with a same-sex partner—in terms of home ownership, taxes, hospital visitation rights and varying levels of social acceptance of same-sex relationships—Hunt also talked about the need for the LGBT-rights movement to recognize itself as diverse, and to highlight and celebrate that diversity.
"We are a patchwork of races and ethnicities and religions and identities," she said, "but you wouldn't know it from what you see in the media … As long as rights for LGBT citizens are portrayed as rights for white gay men, we will remain second-class citizens."
Erlene Howard, who attended the rally, echoed what the speakers said about visibility. "We're not that closeted anymore," Howard said. Though people opposed to gay rights hang on to a certain "boogeyman" fear of LGBT people, she said, more and more are learning not to be afraid. "We're their cousins, their neighbors, their co-workers."
Chicago's rally also came the day after a major address by President Barack Obama to a Human Rights Campaign gala, and speakers at Sunday's event seemed split on Obama's performance on LGBT issues.
While Jim Pickett, director of advocacy for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, counseled patience with Obama—and said that the crowd should support the President's efforts to institute a public health care option—Matty Zaradich, from Join the Impact, spoke directly to the president, saying, "Wake up!"
"I'm mad as hell!" said Zaradich.
Illinois Gender Advocates' Helena Bushong said that she, too, was impatient with the president. "Although President Obama has invited the LGBT community to the White House to roll eggs," Bushong said, referring to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, to which LGBT families were invited for the first time this year, "I've got news for you: We're rolling out a different kind of egg. We're going to hatch out justice!"
Other speakers at the rally included openly gay state Rep. Greg Harris; John A. Knight, director of the ACLU of Illinois Lesbian and Gay Rights/AIDS Project; and Peter Ji, president of PFLAG Illinois. Youth activist Scott Jaburek, a Windy City Times 30 Under 30 honoree, also addressed the crowd.
