Two LGBTQ+ rights pioneers were honored for their contributions to local queer history by the Cook County Board.
The Cook County Board passed a resolution during its Oct. 24 meeting recognizing Art Johnston, owner of the famed gay bar Sidetrack, and Robert Castillo, a long-time queer Latine activist, for their roles in the passage of Cook County’s Human Rights Ordinance.
The resolution was presented by Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, the first openly gay elected official to serve on the board, in honor of LGBTQ+ history month.
“These leaders have gone above and beyond what could be expected of them in order to help the most vulnerable in our communities,” Morrison said. “It is my honor and privilege to recognize Art Johnston and Robert Castillo for their incredible efforts protecting the lives and dignity of LGBTQ+ people in Cook County.”
The Cook County Human Rights Ordinance passed in 1993 and banned discrimination based on sexual orientation, among other factors like race, color, sex, age, religion, disability status, national origin, ancestry and marital status.
Johnston was instrumental in the ordinance’s passing by leveraging his connections as a bar owner, board member of Chicago’s Gay Athletic Association and co-founder of the Illinois Federation for Human Rights (now known as Equality Illinois) to fuel a local civil rights movement that’s still active today.
Johnston would get Sidetrack’s suppliers to sponsor gay and lesbian athletic events, street fairs, HIV and AIDS service providers and other LGBTQ+ organizations, in turn strengthening Chicago’s queer community. He also was a founding board member of IMPACT, which united Johnston with activists Jon-Henri Damski, Laurie Dittman and Rick Garcia to lead a series of Gay and Lesbian town meetings.
These efforts led to the passage of Chicago’s human rights law in 1988, with Cook County’s following five years later.
”It was an interesting time because at that moment, most people on the [Cook County] Board had the notion that the board could not pass a human rights ordinance—they could only do things related to the forest preserves and health,” Johnston said. “But once the board figured out it was fine and that we could do an ordinance like this, it was a wonderful time.”
Castillo, who was a member of Queer Nation Chicago, was also instrumental in advocating for the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance’s passage, organizing public protests and attending every Cook County board meeting from the ordinance’s introduction to its passing.
When activists learned the board was introducing an ordinance that would only cover unincorporated Cook County, Castillo and other members of Queer Nation Chicago mounted pressure until it eventually covered the entire Cook County population.
Castillo said it was “surreal” to be honored by the Cook County board decades later.
”There were times where I was removed from this meeting because of my activism,” Castillo said.
After the ordinance’s passing, Castillo was part of the first case involving sexual orientation when he, his late husband, John Pennycuff, and two other Queer Nation members, Steve Kleinedler and Craig Teichen, were arrested for dancing together in a suburban bar. The four activists became known as the “Dancing Queens” in their suit against the bar.
Castillo has also been involved in numerous community organizations, including ACT UP, ALMA, Ambience Pa’lante, Chicago’s Advisory Council on LGBT Issues, the NEIU Gay Lesbian and Bisexual Alliance, LLEGO and the People of Color Coalition.
”Together Art Johnston and Robert Castillo, in conjunction with the entire network of advocates and allies, have fundamentally changed the legal landscape for the LGBTQ+ community in Cook County and the Chicago area,” the resolution states.