By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

There were relatively few large-scale victories for our community this year. Just one state got civil unions, for example, and none gave its GLBT citizens a permanent right to marry.

But the good news of 2007 reflects a steady and strong march towards equality. More and more people in the military realize the ineffectiveness of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In many areas, stubborn politicians remain as the only barrier between GLBTs and full equality.

Locally, the Center on Halsted opened to great fanfare last summer and quickly established itself as a resource and gathering spot for many in the community. Numerous politicians, including Mayor Richard M. Daley, aldermen and state legislators, celebrated the Center at its dedication in June, further testifying that GLBTs are rapidly strengthening their constituency in Chicago.

Here is just some of the 2007 news that illustrates how our community is steadily breaking down the walls to our full equality.

Former Joint Chiefs chair: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is wrong

In January, John Shalikashvili, the retired Army general who was Joint Chiefs chairman when the Pentagon adopted its “DADT” policy, penned an editorial in the New York Times saying that he had been wrong.

Shalikashvili wrote that after talking to gay servicemen, “These conversations showed me just how much the military has changed and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers.”

He further suggested that the policy was counter-intuitive in a time when the military needs to expand, and that polling had suggested that most service members were comfortable around gays and lesbians.

The editorial made Shalikashvili the most prominent former senior military official to denounce DADT.

First civil unions in Mexico

While GLBTs were fighting for civil unions in many states this year, two Mexican states were putting them into place.

In January, the legislature of the Mexican state of Coahuila approved a bill to legalize unions for gays and lesbians. They were the second state to do so, following on the heels of Mexico’s Federal District, which governs Mexico City and had approved civil unions the previous November.

On Jan. 31, a lesbian couple became the first in Coahuila to register their union. The first Mexico City civil union took place March 16, when journalist Antonio Medina and economist Jorge Cerpa were united in front of the government offices for Mexico City’s Iztapalapa borough.

Mexico City lawmaker Victor Hugo Cirigo summed up the new unions. “Love now has one less obstacle,” he said.

U.S. Episcopal Church resists anti-gay bishops

The perceived schism between religion and homosexuality continued to fuel conflict in the Episcopal Church this year. While all news from the church has not been good for its GLBT members, the group has at least proven its willingness to engage in a thoughtful debate on the consecration of gay bishops and blessings of same-sex unions.

Episcopal bishops risked losing their place in the global Anglican church this year when they said they view the Gospel as teaching “all God’s children, including gay and lesbian persons, are full and equal participants” in the church. They also rejected demands that Anglican leaders be allowed to oversee U.S. parishes that wish to break from the Episcopal Church.

One of the central critics of the church has been Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, who formed the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a group of breakaway conservative parishes in this country. Anglican bishops traditionally do not involve themselves in the affairs of foreign dioceses; Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams asked Akinola to stop interfering in U.S. church affairs, to no avail.

Speaking at Wheaton College in September, Akinola said the divisions in the church spring from people straying from the gospel. Gini Lester, a lesbian Episcopal church member who protested the speech, said Akinola was “preaching hate.”

That same month, U.S. bishops affirmed that they would “exercise restraint” by not consenting to a bishop “whose manner of life presents a challenge” to Anglicans and would not approve blessings for same-sex couples. The pledge was not an outright ban, however, and was rejected as inadequate by some church conservative leaders.



Arab lesbians hold historic conference

Arab women in March defied taboos and gathered in Haifa, Israel for a historic conference on lesbianism in the Arab world.

Homosexuality has been met with little tolerance in the Arab community, and the prejudice and fear is so engrained that very few women who attended the conference were actually lesbian, according to the conference’s organizers. They said somewhere between 10 to 20 lesbians—out of 250 participants—attended.

Poetry readings, music and rappers performed at the conference, which was organized by Aswat, an organization for Arab lesbians.

Security was tight and protestors did show up. But in the end the solidarity in the air was strong. “We are here to say (Arab lesbians) are not alone,” said Rawda Morcos, a spokeswoman for Aswat.

Marriage rights advances

Though Illinois’ civil unions bill is still tried up in the current state government quagmire, other states across the union have made significant progress towards providing equality for gay and lesbian couples.

In April, New Hampshire became the fourth state to OK civil unions after legislation approved by the state senate was sent to Gov. John Lynch.

Massachusetts lawmakers in June voted to block a proposed constitutional amendment that that would have let voters decide whether to ban gay marriage. The victory was widely perceived as a serious blow to gay marriage opponents; it will be years before another anti-same-sex marriage referendum could possibly go forth, and, by that time, opposition is expected to have seriously eroded in the state.

The New York Assembly passed legislation introduced by Gov. Eliot Spitzer 85-61 to legalize same-sex marriage that same month. The measure has not yet been introduced into the Republican-led state Senate, however.

Iowa got same-sex marriage—for a day. A judge there ruled the state’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional Aug. 30, and one same-sex couple managed to wed before the same judge issued a stay while the case could be argued before the state Supreme Court.

California seems ready for gay marriage, except for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In October, he vetoed another marriage bill passed by the state legislature, citing voters’ 2000 approval of Proposition 22, which prevents the state from recognizing gay marriages in other states. But the governor has said he is willing to listen to the California Supreme Court, which is expected to weigh in on the matter in 2008.

Center on Halsted cuts ribbon

Gay Pride festivities were extra special this year, with the dedication of the long-awaited Center on Halsted June 5.

Mayor Daley was on hand to help cut the ribbon and dedicate the new community center. He said the facility “tells everyone that Chicago is a city that is welcoming regardless of your age, background, gender or sexual orientation.”

The mayor then toured the building and held a press conference on the roof garden named in his honor. In a jab at state government leaders, he said the Center could teach Springfield “about getting things done.”

The Center has since become home to numerous GLBT organizations and events since the opening. Among its facilities are a theater, gymnasium, meeting rooms, computer center and Whole Foods.

Pride Parade watched by 450,000

They say size doesn’t matter, but there were a lot of people out for Pride this year. An estimated 450,000 people lined the streets of Lakeview for the 38th annual Pride Parade June 24.

Aside from the usual messages about pride and equality, the parade also drove another point home—businesses, organizations and politicians are reaching out to GLBTs. One float put it succinctly: “Don’t just be gay—buy gay.” The float that won the award for best use of the Pride theme was sponsored by BP.

The only people with plenty of elbow room seemed to be the diminishing numbers of protestors, who that day could be counted on just two hands. As they rhythmically cried “shame, shame, shame,” most passing parade participants just danced along.

Frontrunners celebrates 25th anniversary

Frontrunners/Frontwalkers Chicago, the community’s GLBT running club, marked its 25th anniversary last summer by turning its archives over to Gerber/Hart Library.

FR/FW was formed in 1982 by Peg Grey, Rob Williams and Jim White after the first Proud to Run race. There weren’t many gay sports leagues at the time.

“There was pretty much bowling and that was it,” said Corbin Woodling, the club’s secretary.

The group’s name comes from the “The Front Runner,” Patricia Nell Warren’s 1973 novel. It is one of about 95 Frontrunners organizations around the world.

The 2007 Proud to Run race had 765 people registered, with 635 finishing. The event was especially emotional since the club paid tribute to Grey, who died early in the year.

“Peg was the driving force behind the club,” said Woodling. “She wasn’t coming often anymore, but when she did, it was like a homecoming.”

Howard Brown and LCCP merge

Officials from two of our community’s most valuable health resources, Howard Brown Health Center and Lesbian Community Cancer Project, in October announced that they were merging.

The two organizations had shared building space since 2004, and officials described the organizational merger as a strategic move to increase the number of clients they could serve.

“In a world where funding is competitive and tenuous, combining both our expertise and strategic resources to build the best care for LBT women is the most ethical choice for us and the community,” said LCCP board president Dominique Leonardi.

Officials were braced for criticism that the merger did not leave a standalone organization dedicated to LBT healthcare. “We have proved here with the combination of Howard Brown-LCCP that this is and should be one community,” said HBHC President Michael Cook. “One community with many faces, but still, one community.”

To reflect the expanded scope of the merged organization, LCCP adopted a new name: Lesbian Community Care Project.