The saga that continues to engulf the Coalition for Justice and Respect (CJR) played out further July 8 as the group’s embattled executive director, Marc Loveless, held an open conference call for members of the community to address issues surrounding an array of controversies that have besieged the LGBT-rights organization. Loveless’ group has come under fire in recent weeks from former allies who allege Loveless has engaged in questionable mismanagement practices and embezzlement and has left staffers unpaid for months. The allegations have sent reverberations through the leadership of Chicago’s Black gay community.
Loveless, however, remains unflappable and took great care during the conference call to assure those listening that CJR is still open for business. “We have a number of projects that we’re working on,” Loveless said. He also stressed that CJR’s research partnership with the University of Chicago remains intact despite sources who claim that all of the recent controversy has put the partnership in serious jeopardy.
Windy City Times contacted Dr. John Schneider, the point person at the University of Chicago for the research partnership, to determine if university higher-ups were going to pull out of the CJR agreement in light of the group’s troubles. Schneider would not confirm or deny what sources have reported for weeks, but iterated his steadfast support for continuing to work with CJR—with or without Loveless.
During the conference call, Loveless chalked up attempts to have him removed as the group’s executive director to “internal upheaval” and argued that the organization he founded three years ago is “still consistent.” Loveless blamed troubles with administering CJR’s summer-jobs program on Youth Pride Center head Frank Walker and others. That idea, however, was met with stiff resistance from at least one caller who charged that Loveless’ own “incompetence” with running the program has caused payment delays for some youths, something that has been dubbed by one youth worker as an “injustice.”
Attempts to reach Loveless for further comment were not successful as of the press deadline.