Category: Queer Politics, Culture, and History

Chicago gay groups participated in two protests this past week, both propelled by the November passage of Proposition 8 in California and subsequent protests against them nationwide.  The first was a feeder march outside the Hyatt Global Headquarters building at 71 S. Wacker.  This was part of an action that began in California in the spring of 2008, when gays discovered that Doug Manchester, owner of the Manchester Hyatt in San Diego, had donated $125,000 to the efforts behind Proposition 8.  Since then, protesters have asked the Hyatt Corporation to sever ties from Manchester (Hyatt manages the hotel for him).  The second protest was a rally at the James R.  Thompson Center, 100 W.  Randolph, where people gathered to rally against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton in 1996.  Both rallies occurred on January  10.

In the wake of Proposition 8 in California, gay groups across the country urged people to take a day off from work by calling in “gay for a day” and refusing to spend any of their dollars contributing to the economy.  They chose December 10, which is also International Human Rights Day.