From Juliana for Illinois Chicago – Today, over 50 elected officials and LGBTQ+ community leaders from communities across Illinois endorsed Juliana Stratton’s United States Senate. These leaders cite her support for codifying LGBTQ+ history into school curricula, protecting and expanding access to gender-affirming care, and funding solutions to the HIV/AIDS crisis that seek to address historic inequities in treatment and care.
“The LGBTQ+ community has been a strong ally in governance for me since I first ran for office, and I’m proud to take that partnership from the statehouse to the Lieutenant Governor’s Office to the United States Senate,” said Juliana Stratton. “As attacks on this community intensify and Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans try to scapegoat and persecute people just trying to live in peace, I pledge to continue to stand up and fight for LGBTQ+ Illinoisans on every front.”
This endorsement comes on the heels of several other significant endorsements for Stratton’s campaign. She has been endorsed by her partner in governance Governor JB Pritzker and Senator Tammy Duckworth, as well as Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, the first Black woman to ever serve in the United States Senate. Earlier this week, Stratton was also endorsed by key leaders of the Illinois Asian American Caucus.
The letter from community leaders endorsing Juliana Stratton was signed by over 50 elected officials, nonprofit leaders, activists, and others throughout the entire state– from Lake County on the Wisconsin border to Jackson County in southern Illinois. See the full letter and list of signatories here.
To whom it may concern,
As elected officials and leaders of the Illinois LGBTQ+ community, today we are proud to endorse Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton in the race for United States Senator. Lieutenant Governor Stratton has a long history of allyship and support for our community.
Under the Pritzker/Stratton administration, LGBTQ+ Illinoisans have seen a strengthening of rights and protections even as national forces have been determined to further marginalize and erase our identities. The administration has codified LGBTQ+ history education into school curricula, protected the right to and expanded access for gender-affirming care, and committed to the Getting to Zero plan to end new transmissions of HIV/AIDS and ensure all existing patients have access to treatment and care.
Illinois deserves a fighter who will stand up to the hateful and damaging policies being enacted by Donald Trump’s administration, and Juliana Stratton is that fighter. We are at a moment of crisis where our elected leaders are more important than ever, and Juliana Stratton has our endorsement and support to become the next one of those leaders to make a real difference in the lives of Illinoisans.
We urge you to vote for Juliana Stratton and to support and uplift her campaign. We are
confident that she will serve Illinoisians as a whole and the LGBTQ+ community with diligence and empathy as a U.S. Senator. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Betty Alzamora
Christopher Balthazar
Tara Bell
Jim Bennett
Dave Bentlin
Jake Bowers
Precious Brady-Davis
Rep. Kelly Cassidy
Terry Cosgrove
Doug Curtis
Andrea Densham
Willard Dumas, III
The Rev. M.E. & Mrs. Katie Eccles
Patti Flynn
Greg Fosheim
Keith R. Green, PhD, MSW
Ald. Maria Hadden
Greg Harris
Kim L. Hunt
Brian C. Johnson
Art Johnston and Pepe Pena
Julie E Justicz
Ann Kaplan-Perkins
Jackie Kaplan-Perkins
Hon. Kristal Larson
Mary F. Morten
Mona Noriega
Reyna Ortiz
Wendy Pollack
Denise Poloyac
Dulce Quintero
Brian Richardson
Brooke Skinner Ricketts
Laura Ricketts
Luis Roman
Mony Ruiz-Velasco
River Russell
Jane M Hussein Saks
Dr. Norma L. Seledon
Peggy Shinner
Justin Sia
Dr. Chris Smith
Jim Snyder
Liz Stovall
Mario Treto, Jr.
Ann Tyler
Terry Vanden Hoek
Lydia Vega
Carrie Vine
José Che-Che Wilson
Mike Ziri