Community members, among them stakeholders from several Chicago-area religious organizations, gathered at Lighthouse Church in Lincoln Park the morning of Aug. 10, to discuss community engagement around Center on Halsted.
Rev. Jamie Frazier of Lighthouse—who also heads up the Lighthouse Foundation, which advocates equity issues on behalf of Black LGBT community members—is leading calls for the Center to fire its longtime security contractor, Walsh Security. The head of Walsh Security, Thomas Walsh, is a Chicago Police Department officer, who has faced allegations of racism.
Frazier emphasized that the key “target” of the protests is Center CEO Modesto Tico Valle.
“The buck stops with him, and [why] he continues to employ a racist, is just unfathomable to me,” Frazier said, adding that the central demands are Walsh’s dismissal and that Lighthouse and community allies be consulted in the hiring of Walsh’s replacement.
For more details on the protests, see http://windycitytimes.com/lgbt/EXCLUSIVE-Community-activists-launch-focus-on-Center-on-Halsted/66714.html.