This was a tumultuous year for many in the LGBT community. There were numerous "highs," such as local advancements of pro-trans ordinances and dramatic expansions of healthcare services in the city. But there were "lows" too, especially as residents were impacted by national events such as the Pulse nightclub shooting and the uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump's impending presidency. Here are just a few of the high-points and low-points of the local year in LGBT news.
New director: On Jan. 9, Imani Rupert-Gordon was announced as the new executive director of Affinity Community Services.
Kirk support: U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk ( R-Illinois ), on Jan. 19, became the first Senate Republican to sign on as a co-sponsor of the Equality Act, which would guarantee explicit and permanent protections for LGBT Americans in areas such as employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs and jury service. Kirk lost his re-election bid in November after a tumultuous race against U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth.
Priest comes out: A Chicago priest, Michael Shanahan, on Jan. 31, publicly came out in the pages of the Washington Post. Shanahan initially wanted to remain anonymous, but knew that coming out might have a meaningful impact on LGBT people or their family members.
Birth certificate bill: State Rep. Greg Harris ( D-Chicago ), on Feb. 11, introduced a new bill that would make it easier for transgender Illinois residents to amend their birth certificates. The bill, HB 6073, would amend the state's vital records act so that a declaration by a physician that the individual is undergoing medically appropriate treatment would be the main requirement to change the gender-marker on a birth certificate.
Anti-trans legislation: Illinois state Rep. Thomas Morrison ( R-Palatine ), on Jan. 20, led legislation that explicitly required school pupils to use restrooms and changing facilities that correspond with the gender assigned at birth. The bill, HB 4474, would amend the School Code to require that facilities designate their facilities by sex, and mandate that students can only use the facilities of the sex that they were assigned at birth.
Change turmoil: The 2016 Creating Change, sponsored by the National LGBTQ Task Force, took place in late January at the Hilton Chicago. But the changing nature of activism, as well as the intersecting stakes of progressive issues, proved to offer formidable challenges for organizers. First, participants balked when officials from Immigration Customs Enforcement were invited ( they were subsequently disinvited ), then a large scale-protest ensued at a reception organized by A Wider Bridge ( AWB ), a San Francisco-based organization that tries to foster relationships between Israel and the LGBT community.
Rush benefits: Chicago's Rush University Medical Center announced in January that it will provide comprehensive transgender health care benefits to all employees enrolled in the organization's health-care plan.
PrEP campaign: The Chicago PrEP Working Group ( CPWG ) launched PrEP4Love, a citywide, sex-positive media campaign designed to increase awareness of PrEP ( pre-exposure prophylaxis ), a daily HIV prevention pill for HIV-negative people. Photography with the tagline "One pill. Once a day. Protect against HIV" has been displayed in ads throughout Chicago on CTA trains and buses throughout the year.
Pelosi speaks: Democratic House leader U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi spoke Feb. 6 at Equality Illinois's gala celebrating its 25th anniversary. The LGBT-rights organization announced a re-branding this year, and longtime-head Bernard Cherkasov left for a new post. He was replaced by Brian Johnson.
New institute: Northwestern University officials announced, on Feb. 29, the launch of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing, which will be the first university-wide research institute in the U.S. focused on LGBT Health.
Brewster opposition: A group of anti-gay activists in the Dominican Republic in March posted a petition on the White House's website demanding the ouster of the openly gay U.S. ambassador to that nation. The anonymous petition, said that Ambassador James "Wally" Brewster promoted "an LGBT agenda inconsistent with the Christian cultural values and tradition of the Dominican Republic" in his official duties. The White House supported Brewster.
Collette lawsuit: A Chicago man, Colin Collette, filed a federal lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Chicago in March, claiming that he was unlawfully fired in 2014 from his position at an Inverness church because he became engaged to his same-sex partner.
Howard Brown expands: Howard Brown Health, on March 10, announced that it would be taking over management of the HIV practice formerly operated by the Chicago Department of Public Health ( CDPH ) at a clinic at 641 W. 63rd St. Howard Brown Health also announced a new location for its Broadway Youth Center ( BYC ). Latonya Maley, formerly BYC's youth HIV/STI prevention manager, was selected as its new director.
New name: The Chicago Area Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, marking its 20th anniversary, changed its name to LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Illinois.
Focus on rights: The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago became the first of its kind in the United States to adopt a program and policy initiative safeguarding the civil rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming youth.
Tulasi arrest: Chicago-based queer filmmaker Moses Tulasi was arrested March 22 alongside more than 30 students and faculty members on the campus of Hyderabad Central University located close to the outskirts of the Southern India city.
NC bans: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced in April that he would not only prepare an order banning travel to North Carolina for non-essential city business, but he'll use the passage of virulently anti-LGBT legislation as an opportunity to recruit businesses from the Tar Heel State. The Cook County Board of Commissioners, on April 13, passed similar bills boycotting North Carolina and Mississippi for non-vital city business.
Alliance change: Anthony Papini, the former executive director of Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, stepped down from his post in order to take a new job in his native Washington State, he said April 6. Owen Daniel-McCarter was named as his replacement.
Investigation report: A task force commissioned in December by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, in the wake of the protracted investigation and prosecution of the Laquan McDonald shooting, released a frank and critical assessment of the Chicago Police Department ( CPD ) on April 13. The Chicago Police Accountability Task Force was headed by Chicago Police Board Chair Lori Lightfoot, who is openly lesbian. The report acknowledged widespread distrust of CPD from city residents, and presented numerous disturbing statistics.
Center initiative: Center on Halsted announced, on April 21, that it was accepting applications for its Youth Housing Initiative. The program is part of the Center's two-pronged Youth Housing Strategy, which it developed in 2015.
School lawsuit: A federal lawsuit was filed against the government and a Northwest suburban school district May 4 over that district's rules allowing a transgender student to use the locker room facilities of the gender with which she identified. Alliance Defending Freedom and the Thomas More Society filed suit on behalf of 51 area families against the United States Department of Education, United States Department of Justice and Township District 211.
CPS guidelines: Chicago Public Schools, on May 3, issued revised guidelines pertaining to its transgender students, staff and volunteers, tackling head-on questions surrounding restroom and locker room use that vexed school districts across the country in 2016.
New CEO: Following an extensive national search, the Chicago House Board of Trustees approved Scott Ammarell as the next CEO of the agency. Ammarell replaced outgoing CEO Rev. Stan Sloan.
Target lockdown: A Bourbonnais, Illinois, Target store and its neighboring businesses were placed on lockdown for two hours, on May 2, after a man created a disturbance over the retail chains' restroom policies for its transgender customers.
LGBT housing: Logan Square residents, politicians and other stakeholders gathered May 21 at Congress Pizzeria, 2033 N. Milwaukee Ave., to learn about a new affordable-housing development, intended to be welcoming for LGBT individuals. The complex, to be named The John Pennycuff Memorial Apartments at Robert Castillo Plaza, was financed through the use of TIF funds from the existing Milwaukee-Fullerton Tax Increment Finance ( TIF ) district, as well as Chicago Housing Authority ( CHA ) funds, tax credits and private funding. It was approved by the City Council in December.
Plank stays the same: After a contentious debate, the Illinois State Republican Party voted May 20 at its convention in Peoria to retain a plank preserving its 2012 language that said marriage should be between a man and a woman
Synagogue folds: Congregation Or Chadash, which had primarily served Chicago's LGBT Jewish community announced in May that it was closing as an independent synagogue. Or Chadash, which opened in 1975, merged with Temple Sholom in July.
Target support: Trans activists, the Gay Liberation Network and allies organized a demonstration designed "to support Target and the trans community" at the Uptown Target store on June 4.
Chicago pays tribute: About 300 Chicagoans gathered in Lake View at the corner of Halsted and Roscoe June 12, in memory of victims of the mass shooting at an Orlando LGBT nightclub early that morning. A second rally was held concurrently in Andersonville, where Midsommarfest was being celebrated, and attended by many LGBT Chicagoans and visitors. Mayor Emanuel, along with Chicago politicians, clergy, activists and artists, were among those who, on June 13, spoke at a vigil at Center on Halsted.
Measure passes: The Chicago City Council, on June 22, approved a measure that removed a provision in the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance requiring individuals to show a government-issued ID upon request when trying to access restrooms and other public accommodations.
Chicago celebrates: The 47th Annual Pride Parade June 26 began with a moment of silence. The 2016 event opened with a procession of individuals holding up photos of the 49 persons murdered at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando just two weeks earlier. City officials estimated attendance to be at about one million spectators. Security was heightened this year in light of the shootings; Chicago Police said additional officers and 160 private security personnel would be used. Parade officials had previously announced that the number of parade entries would be limited to 160, so the parade could end earlier.
New leadership: Center on Halsted announced new leadership within the organization. Kim Fountain, joined the organization in a newly formed chief operating officer position, while longtime LGBT-rights activist Richard Turner was chosen to chair the board of directors.
Meetings lawsuit: LGBT- and housing-rights activists, on July 14, announced they were filing a lawsuit against the Chicago City Council for violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Activists contended that, despite being first in line—and arriving about 90 minutes early—for the May and June monthly meetings of the City Council, they and others were denied entrance.
Senior discrimination: Lambda Legal, on July 27, announced that it was filing a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against a Chicago-area senior housing facility for discriminating against a resident because of her sex and sexual orientation.
Madigan brief: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, on July 28, joined with the attorneys general of 12 other states to issue a brief in support of Obama administration policies that protect transgender individuals, among them transgender students
Conversion therapy suit: An ad hoc group of religious personnel, calling itself Pastors Protecting Youth, on Aug. 11, filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Illinois, arguing that the Youth Mental Health Protection Act infringes on the rights of individuals offering pastoral counseling. The Youth Mental Health Protection Act, which was passed in Aug. 2015, bans so-called conversion therapy that purports to "cure" individuals of their homosexuality from being practiced upon minors. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Marriage milestone: On the morning of Wed., Aug. 31, Cook County Clerk David Orr's office issued the 10,000th marriage license to a same-sex couple.
Humana suit: AIDS Foundation of Chicago ( AFC ), on Sept. 6, filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights ( OCR ) against Humana, charging that the insurance giant routinely denies coverage for or limits access to HIV medications through prohibitively high cost sharing requirements.
Trans murder: Trans woman T.T. Safore was found murdered in the Garfeild Park neighborhood on Sept. 11. She was the 20th trans person murdered in 2016.
PrEP expansion: Cook County Health & Hospitals System ( CCHHS ), on Sept. 15, announced an initiative to increase access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, for its patients. The new program funds staff in additional locations on the city's West Side, along with CCHHS' Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center, to assist patients in obtaining PrEP.
School symposium: A symposium held in mid-October sought community input for a renewed effort for an education program sensitive to the needs of LGBT students. Bishop James E. Dukes of Pentecostal Liberation Christian Center organized the gathering.
Hively suit: The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, on Oct. 11, granted en banc review in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, meaning that the entire court will hear the employment discrimination appeal of Kimberly Hively. Hively was denied full-time employment at Ivy Tech Community College in South Bend, Indiana, six different times and maintains she was eventually terminated because she is a lesbian.
Man's Country closing: In Oct., Man's Country owner Chuck Renslow announced that he was closing his Andersonville business.
Westboro protest: About 50 Uptown residents and other community members staged a counter-protest the morning of Oct. 21, when members of Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church staged an anti-LGBT protest at Weiss Memorial Hospital.
Haunted house: A Far South Side grade school did not participate in a haunted house that contained, among other depictions, a representation of the June shootings at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, as was originally planned.
Cher stump: On Oct. 30, superstar Cher continued to stump for Hillary Clinton with the "Love Trumps Hate" tour that stopped in Chicago at Revel Fulton Market, 1215 W. Fulton Market.
Iowa trip: On Nov. 5, the "Hillary LGBTQ Bus Trip to Iowa" took place, with approximately 90 local volunteers making the trip to the swing state.
Trump protest: Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Chicago Nov. 9, chanting against the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president. There were many rainbow and bisexual flags.
Brewster resigns: Openly gay U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James "Wally" Brewster, on Nov. 23, announced that he would be resigning from his post, effective Jan. 20, 2017.
Rogers Park opening: Howard Brown Health, on Dec. 5, inaugurated its Rogers Park clinic, at 6500 N. Clark St., 9:30-11 a.m., with elected officials and invited guests.
