Why Rev. Meeks Is No Harold Washgton on Gay Rights – NBC Chigo

Contents:

• WHY REV. MEEKS IS NO HAROLD WASHGTON ON GAY RIGHTS
• WASHGTON, D.C.'S HIDN GAY HISTORY IS UNVERED 'SECRET CY'

WHY REV. MEEKS IS NO HAROLD WASHGTON ON GAY RIGHTS

He appoted the first mayoral liaison to the LGBT muny; was the first Chigo mayor to addrs a gay rights rally; and tablished the Cy’s first official Commtee on Gay and Lbian Issu (forenner of today’s Advisory Council on Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr Issu) wh an openly lbian staff director. He advoted the cln of equal rights for gay and lbian persons the Illois Democratic Party’s platform. Hoe of Reprentativ, he -sponsored gay and lbian rights legislatn—which has yet to be enacted at the feral level.

Also 1984, Washgton issued a directive for all cy partment heads to take part a muny meetg wh a broad-based reprentatn of Chigo’s gay and lbian anizatns and bs om all parts of the cy. The followg year, Washgton tablished the cy’s first official Commtee on Gay and Lbian Issu. This body would bee today’s Chigo Commissn on Human Relatns’ Advisory Council on Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr Issu, which overse the Chigo Gay and Lbian Hall of Fame.

As mayor, Washgton also appoted the first openly gay or lbian full-time ordator of LGBT issu Chigo’s history. The polil mobilizatn of gays and lbians Chigo relied part on a agile alliance wh the cy’s black muny. That’s jt one of many fascatg revelatns ptured the book, “Queer Clout: Chigo and the Rise of Gay Polics” by Timothy Stewart-Wter, a Universy of Chigo alumn who currently teach history at Rutgers Universy Newark, New Jersey.

WASHGTON, D.C.'S HIDN GAY HISTORY IS UNVERED 'SECRET CY'

“Queer Clout” follows the polil rise of Chigo’s LGBT muny, om fightg agast police raids of the cy’s gay bars to beg urted by the cy’s first Ain-Amerin mayor, Harold Washgton, and then s later by Barack Obama as he climbed om beg a ltle-known state lawmaker to ultimately beg the natn’s first black print. "Chigo is actually more reprentative than New York and San Francis of the trajectory of gay polics, " said Stewart-Wter.

And so, gay bar raids went on longer here, gay people had to have more alli orr to w clout Cy Hall than other plac. In 2013, the chief jtice of the Uned Stat suggted that the gay-rights ‘‘lobby’’ was so ‘‘polilly powerful’’ that gay upl nied equal accs to marriage should not be nsired a disadvantaged class servg protectn om the urts.