CHICAGO—A broad coalition of Chicago-area LGBTQ organizations are hosting a Chicago Mayoral Candidates Forum on LGBT issues.
The forum will be held Wed., Feb. 9, at 6 p.m. at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, 17 N. Dearborn. The coalition is offering the candidates the opportunity to speak directly to the LGBTQ community and to educate voters as to their vision of the office of the mayor of Chicago with a focus on issues directly impacting LGBTQ people. Tracy Baim, publisher and executive editor at Windy City Media Group, will moderate the event.
All the major candidates—Gery Chico, Rahm Emanuel, Carol Moseley-Braun, Miguel del Valle, William Walls and Patricia Van Pelt-Watkins—have accepted the coalition’s invitation to participate in the Forum.
The coalition is coordinated by leaders from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Affinity Community Services, Amigas Latinas, the Association for Latino Men for Action, Equality Illinois and LGBT Change. The organizers’ goal for this forum is to educate the community on the candidates’ positions and commitments to LGBT inclusion in city policy. This forum is the culmination of a three-month long process which included community forums held across the city of Chicago that aimed to inform and educate the community and candidates on LGBTQ concerns via issue questionnaires. Completed questionnaires, as well as additional information on the process, are available at www.eqil.org/NextMayor.html.
This is the first time that such a broad coalition of LGBT organizations has come together to participate in the electoral process.
The coalition includes:
Affinity Community Services
Amigas Latinas
Association of Latino Men for Action (ALMA)
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
Bisexual Queer Alliance
Boricua Pride
Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus
Chicago Transgender Coalition
Center on Halsted
Equality Illinois
I2I: Asian Pacific Islander Pride of Chicago
Illinois Safe Schools Alliance
Illinois Gender Advocates
Join the Impact Chicago
Howard Brown Health Center
Human Rights Campaign Chicago
Lambda Legal
LGBT Change
LGBT Immigration Project of Heartland Alliance
Lesbian & Gay Bar Association of Chicago
Orgullo En Accion
POW POW Inc.
Public Pride Alliance
The Civil Rights Agenda
The Literary Exchange
TransActions
Video Action League
Windy City Black LGBT Pride
Attendance is sold out but submit questions via afc.aidschicago.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1193 and watch live streaming at windycitytimes.com or www.radioarte.com.