On Nov. 20, Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), Equality Illinois held a press conference at the Rainbow Crosswalk on Farragut Ave. and Clark St. adjacent to Women and Children First bookstore in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.
Equality Illinois CEO Channyn Lynne Parker said she wanted to hold a visibility-focused event at the site of one of Chicago’s Rainbow crosswalks because they are a symbol of free expression that are being destroyed by anti-LGBTQ politicians in other locations across America. She added that today it’s the erasure of Rainbow crosswalks but tomorrow it could be Juneteenth and other nationalities symbols that are destroyed.
“We have to firmly stand and say no this,” said Parker. “ We’re living in a time when our symbols are being targeted, particularly our symbols of Pride, and they were never just about targeting colors on the ground. It always begins with the symbol … This is about who gets to belong in public. Whose history gets honored and whose visibility is allowed to remain. Today is [Trans Day of Remembrance]. We do hold grief, but our symbols are not decorations. They are declarations. The Rainbow crosswalk is not a distraction from our pain. It is a reminder that we belong here in public … We enter today with heaviness … This crosswalk is not art, it is infrastructure. It is a permanent imprint of our presence in this city. It tells our young people that their lives deserve to be seen, not just once a year, but every day.
“This is not a celebration. This is a claiming of our visibility. This is us checking up space in a world that you often tries to erase us … We deserve a city where our joy, history and futures are embedded in the very ground we walk on. We mark the streets with color because our community deserves both visibility and tenderness. So today, we honor both the lives we’ve lost, and the lives we’re still fighting for.”
Parker also spoke about Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community presents a unified front and how important it is to work together to get things done. She added that it is an honor for her to lead Equality Illinois as the first Black woman and the first Black trans woman to hold this post in the organization’s 30-year history.
Illinois state Sen. Mike Simmons (7th District) pointed out the Black Trans Lives mural painted on the side of the Women and Children First bookstore building which “represents the best of the seventh Senate district.” He spoke about the trans people throughout history to whom the entire LGBTQ community “owes so much of our progress to.” He singled out Marsha P. Johnson who fought back, called out injustice and forced the culture to change for the better.
Simmons said the trans community inspires him every day amidst the persecution they continue to face from the Trump Administration and other right-wing politicians nationwide. He spoke about the legislation he recently introduced and helped pass that “makes Illinois a sanctuary state for trans people across the country who are fleeing here. I’m going to walk through the fire for my trans siblings every day as [an Illinois state] Senator.”
Chicago Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th Ward) said, “I represent the Northalsted business district and we had a resurfacing project on Halsted this year, which meant that our Rainbow crosswalks were removed. It was the same day the Florida Governor removed all LGBTQ symbols on public property in Florida.” He added that he had missed that news story before he got many phone calls from community members who wanted to make sure those Rainbow crosswalks would return once the roadwork was done. Lawson told them yes, and the Progress flag and Trans flag crosswalks are indeed currently being restored.
Lawson added that “we are reaffirming our commitment” across the city of Chicago “to support our trans siblings, trans youth and the parents, grandparents and aunties and uncles who are caring for them every day. We have taken broad, powerful steps against the hate that this Administration federally has tried to put on to our community generally. In Chicago, we fight ICE together. We fight for our trans siblings together, and we will not be erased. One of the great things about Northalsted is we have the Legacy Walk that tells the story of LGBT people throughout history and a number of those plaques are dedicated to trans people and Two Spirit People as well. We are going to lift up all of those stories … We stand with you as an entire city made up of neighborhoods where trans people are welcome, valued and loved.”
Among the community leaders in attendance were Equality Illinois staffers Norma Seledon (Director of Leadership Development & Capacity Building), Nathaniel Ekman (Director of Development), Kieran C. Fitzgerald (Director of Strategic Operations) and José Che-Che Wilson (Director of Civic Engagement); Chicago Therapy Collective Special Projects Lead Albe Gutierrez; Chicago LGBTQ+ Advisory Council members Jin-Soo Huh (Chair) and Starr De Los Santos (Secretary); and ALMA Chicago CEO Manuel Hernández.