U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (IL-5) met with community members at his 15th annual LGBTQ+ Town Hall the morning of May 23 at Center on Halsted (the Center), 3656 N. Halsted St.
Quigley opened by acknowledging that his audience was packed with his supporters: “I know that I’m speaking to the choir here, but sometimes the choir needs to have some practice.”
Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Nora Huppert, who is based in the organization’s Chicago office, joined Quigley for the forum, which was moderated by the Center’s CEO, Joli Robinson. Huppert provided updates on Lambda’s current litigations.
While discussing the May 21 murders of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington D.C., Quigley spoke against racism and anti-semitism. An audience member briefly interrupted his remarks to say that the congressperson was among those politicians publicly ignoring the situation in Gaza. Quigley answered that he had spoken about it, calling for guarantees to humanitarian aid for Gaza while questioning U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on May 21.
Quigley acknowledged the frustrations many in the LGBTQ+ community have with elected officials as the community—particularly its trans members—has come under fire from the Trump administration. He noted that 42% of the Trump campaign’s ad spends in the 2024 presidential election centered on anti-trans rhetoric.
The trans community’s livelihood is “on the chopping block” as it has become “a perverse priority for individuals on the Right,” Robinson added.
Quigley took Democrats unwilling to defending the trans community to task, and warned, “They’re going to come after you next,” additionally noting that Trump and his administration double-down on demands for people, organizations and institutions that easily acquiesce to their demands.
“This is an effort to control how people act,” to which Americans “can’t give in,” added Huppert.
Quigley said he realizes that many constituents feel he and some colleagues do not seem to be meeting the Trump administration with the same rhetorical fury with which the administration harangues both the president’s opponents and many marginalized communities.
That restraint, Quigley maintained, is calculated. When appearing on news outlets besides MSNBC and CNN, and when he speaks in committee hearings, he’s often trying to appeal to centrist, undecided voters who are turned off by aggressive rhetoric. Left-leaning politicians are “trying to hit the issues that strike at [those voters’] core,” he said.
Americans concerned about the current administration must strike a balance between keeping politically aware and disengaging from news cycles, so as not to become overwhelmed by the toxicity of the current political climate, Quigley said. He added, “Turn on Turner Classic Movies. A dark film noir is better than CNN right now.”
He also said the Left must resist the temptation to fight among themselves and try to keep focusing on defeating Trump and his allies.
Huppert said, “It’s when we’re under siege that we start looking for the faults in each other.”
Quigley added, “That’s what they want us to do.”
He further warned that the current situation under Trump is likely to get worse before it gets better. Quigley urged the audience to learn “how political campaigns work,” so that they’ll feel engaged and empowered as they face the 2026 and 2028 elections.
“All policy issues have political solutions, and we’ve all got to be part of that,” Quigley said.