The more than 1,000 discriminatory Federal rules and statutes —affecting taxation, family and medical leave, health insurance, social security and hospital visitation—were discussed at the Broadway United Methodist Church forum April 24, sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and several Chicago and suburban GLBT groups.
In addition to two D.C.-based HRC staffers, the forum featured pro-gay U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Rahm Emmanuel of Chicago.
Emmanuel said the GLBT activists need to be involved in a larger array of issues, including healthcare for the uninsured, because those laws also impact GLBTS. He also said activity on the local and state level eventually ‘bubbles up’ to the federal level, so it is important to keep active on local legislative efforts in Illinois.
Schakowsky read a letter she wrote to President Bush asking him to distance himself from Sen. Rick Santorum’s recent attacks on gays. She brought up several examples of how the Bush administration is ‘piece by piece’ taking away progressive policies.She does not believe the planet will survive another four years of Bush, and that the priority must be to unseat him—even if the Democratic candidate is not perfect. ‘We need to make the connection between the struggling and suffering we see out there and regime change at home,’ she said.
Speakers included Roger McCaffrey-Boss, a Chicago-based family and estate attorney; tax attorney Gail Morse; AIDS Foundation of Chicago Deputy Director David Munar; and Lisa Tonna, Horizons’ Interim Director of Programs.