The Illinois General Assembly signed off this week on Democrat-drawn redistricting maps that will secure the state's three openly gay representatives' seats, and could pave the way for progressive political victories in the coming decade.
Though district boundaries throughout the state fluctuated in response to population shifts, Chicago's Lakefront districtshome to Illinois' three openly gay legislatorsremained remarkably similar. That means, when Deb Mell (40th), Kelly Cassidy (14th) and Greg Harris (13th) run for re-election in 2012, they'll have the advantage of campaigning on home turf.
"As a whole, we're representing the same community areas, the same neighborhoods, the same population that we've traditionally represented," Harris said, "so that's good for continuity. Largely, the districts will remain intact."
Since Democrats hold majorities in the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives, the 2011 redistricting process was relatively one-sided. Republicans did propose a map that would've created more majority-Latino districts and severely jeopardized Cassidy and Mell's chances for reelection, but it was never brought to a vote.
The Democratic map, which consolidates Democratic power and seeks to reverse recent GOP gains by combining Republican districts, passed the Illinois House with a 64-52 vote and the Senate 35-22. Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to approve the final map this month.
How districts are redrawn this year will shape Illinois' political landscape for the next 10 years, and queer activists are hoping to capitalize on that. The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA), for instance, is working to elect more openly gay candidates in key districts and motivate newly formed progressive voting blocs on issues such as marriage equality and women's reproductive rights.
"We're trying to look at the lay of the land and put our best foot forward as the LGBT community," said Anthony Martinez, TCRA's executive director, "specifically with [the 2012] election when there's going to be a lot of organizing around progressive causes and equality causes."
The TCRA has already identified two districts that seem particularly queer-friendlyone in Lake County and one near Springfieldand has begun organizing grassroots campaigns to elect queer politicians in those areas. The organization hopes to help finance campaigns with its political action fund.
"We see this as a very good opportunity to elect LGBT people since we are so underrepresented in the General Assembly," Martinez said. "It's estimated there are about a million LGBT residents, and we only have three legislators, so there's still a lot of work to do in terms of having the representation that we deserve."