THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

On the panel were Kirk Fordham, executive director, Gill Action Fund; Kate Kendell, executive director, National Center for Lesbian Rights; Stacey Long Simmons, director of public policy and government affairs, National LGBTQ Task Force; Malcolm Lazin, chair of the 50th anniversary celebration; and moderator Kevin Naff of the Washington Blade.

Kendell started the program with a discussion of the regional and national strategy on marriage equality, saying that the state-by-state work soon eclipsed the national plans, thus causing a shift in the work. She lauded the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing marriage across the country, but said there is still much work to be done on a wide range of LGBT issues.

Simmons, who is a former Chicagoan, discussed the importance of working with and on other social justice organizations and issues including voting rights, immigration, #BlackLivesMatter and racially motivated police targeting of minority communities.

Fordham said there is a need to still focus on political races, pushing both Democrats and Republicans on LGBT issues, at a local and national level.