The Chicago History Museum’s (CHM’s) ongoing series, Out at CHM, featured local gay historian John D’Emilio on April 15. D’Emilio, a professor of history and gender and women’s studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, presented a piece entitled “Richard Nixon, Gay Liberationist?” Speaking to a packed auditorium, D’Emilio discussed the implications of his research for scholars of queer history. He argued that while it was tempting to read the virtual end of the harassment of gay bars in the 1970s as a sign of the success of queer resistance to the Daley machine, the truth might be more prosaic and linked to wider national political changes of the time.
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The University of Illinois at Chicago hosted its third annual Lavender Forum April 15, an event co-sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Center and the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues. The forum began in 2008 as a daylong series of presentations by faculty and students. This year, it focused on student work that included the winners of a paper competition and the recipients of the Gender and Sexuality Center’s Kellogg Rainbow Merit Scholarship.
In June, Gender JUST, a local LGBTQA grassroots organization, organized a safe and affirming education community forum spotlighting Chicago Public Schools and the specific needs of LGBTQ students. At that meeting, the group secured a promise from CPS CEO Ron Huberman that he would meet with the group within 60 days. [Full disclosure: This reporter is also a member of Gender JUST.]
Joe Solmonese, executive director of Human Rights Campaign (HRC) , frequently finds himself in the eye of the LGBT political storm. In recent years, criticism of the nation’s largest gay organization has increased, whether for what many described as the betrayal over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) or its rumored agnosticism over “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). The organization recently unveiled a nationwide campaign, No Excuses, which aims to empower LGBTs everywhere to talk to their members of Congress about the issues facing them. Solmonese talked to Windy City Times over the phone about the campaign, and about a range of legislative and political issues.
The history of queer life is captured on the margins of mainstream media, by gay newspapers like this one. Free weeklies like the Windy City Times have a tangible presence in the communities they serve, distributed through curbside boxes and wire racks. But another kind of more ephemeral queer record, the queerzine, has a history and impact of its own, and this was in evidence during the Chicago leg of the Queer Zinester Roadshow.
In recent years, the ex-gay movement has been making claims that it is possible to convert gays and lesbians to heterosexuality. Those claims may be somewhat dulled now that the American Psychological Association (APA) has published a resolution explicitly stating that mental health professionals should avoid telling clients that they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or other treatments.
The annual LGBTI Health Summit was held at the Chicago Hilton and Towers, 720 S. Michigan, August 14-18, and the five-day international event kicked off with an entire day devoted to the issues and needs of bisexuals. According to the organizers, this is only the second event with a focus on bisexuality and health, the first being the Bi Health Summit at the 2003 North American Conference on Bisexuality in San Diego.