The Illinois Safe Schools Alliance recently issued a report card for all Illinois teacher training colleges, based on their preparedness of teachers (K-12) in LGBTQ-related matters. The report is titled “Visibility Matters: Higher Education and Teacher Preparation in Illinois: A Web-based Assesement of LGBTQ Presence.” The Alliance looked at school Web sites to determine, broadly, the extent to which higher-education institutions with teacher training colleges were inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity issues. More specifically, they considered the extent to which these policies were reflected in the materials used in teacher education programs. Forty-one out of Illinois’ 57 programs received Fs. Only one, at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), received an A. Four received Ds, one got a B and the rest received Cs.
Nikki Patin is a Chicago-born performance artist and activist, who has appeared on HBO’s Def Jam. Her work combines burlesque, spoken word and music to address the themes of body image, race and class. Patin will be touring New Zealand and Australia from the end of February through April, and is hosting a series of fundraisers in town to pay for the upcoming trip. She will be signing copies of her book “The Phat Grrrl Diaries” at these events. Windy City Times spoke to Patin.
Democrat John Fritchey is currently the 11th District State Representative. He’s also among the many candidates seeking to fill Rahm Emanuel’s recently vacated seat in Illinois’s Fifth Congressional District. Fritchey has a reputation as a progressive and is backed by a number of labor unions. He spoke to Windy City Times about his views on gay marriage, DADT, hate crimes legislation and his stand on labor-related issues. The primary will take place on March 3 and the general election on April 7.
When Proposition 8 passed in November 2008, it prompted a series of actions across the country and legal challenges in California. On March 5, the California Supreme Court will begin to hear arguments against Prop 8. In order to highlight the importance of the upcoming trial, Gay Liberation Network (GLN) and Join the Impact.
Governor Rod Blagojevich recently announced that he was appointing Roland Burris to the Senate seat previously occupied by President-elect Barack Obama. The move has generated controversy, censure and ridicule. The governor is being decried for equal parts hubris and arrogance, while Burris has been criticized for participating in what many claim is an unethical move.
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.
Two prominent Chicago LGBT activists are making significant career transitions.
Mary Morten is stepping down as the interim executive director of Chicago Foundation for Women. Morten was the first African American and first out lesbian chair of the board in 1999. She became the interim executive director in November 2007.