In August, Alisha Brennon, became instantly famous among Chicagoans for the worst possible reason.
Her wife, Christina Santiago, died in the Aug. 13 concert stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair while Brennon suffered multiple facial fractures from the incident. Santiago was a well-known LGBT and women's advocate in Chicago.
Following the collapse, Brennon filed suit against a host of companies responsible for the concert. According to her attorneys, the case is intended as a challenge to lack of same-sex partner recognition in the state. Now, four months after the disaster, Brennon talked with Windy City Times about her memories of the stage collapse and how she is fighting to carry on Santiago's legacy.
Windy City Times: So you are back at work for the first time this week?
Alisha Brennon: I was back at work a couple of days before, but this is the first. I'm finally saying I'm done; I need to go back to work every full day.
WCT: Your story is important to a lot of people. Is there anything readers can do to support you right now?
Alisha Brennon: Not really. Eventually, once this goes to court, we're going to need a lot of support. Besides that, no. Everything is taken care of.
WCT: Why did you decide you wanted to go through with the lawsuit?
Alisha Brennon: It's an important part of my life just like it's an important part of [ Christina's ] life. If anything like this were to happen in the future, people need to be given the right to do what they need to do to take action.
WCT: You are looking to challenge Indiana's lack of same-sex partner recognition, yes?
Alisha Brennon: Right. And for any other couples who have a civil union for crossing state lines, period. Yes, this one is just for Indiana, but hopefully it will get further than that, too, and it will open other states' eyes.
WCT: If you win money from this suit, you have said, you want to use that money for LGBT activism. What issues do you want to take on?
Alisha Brennon: Equality, in general. Anything that I can do for our community or our community can do to help change things so that equality is in the forefront of everyone's mind because right now it just seems like every time something happens, it's just thrown to the back burner.
WCT: Is there an issue in particular that you think would be a good place to start?
Alisha Brennon: Christina was actually more the advocate in that her face was out there, and she knew more about those issues than I did. I was there to support her in those issues, and I didn't know that they would ever directly have an effect on me, so I actually am unsure at this point of where to start.
WCT: What is Christina's legacy in your mind?
Alisha Brennon: She always strived to be heard and make it known that while civil unions are a step towards equality, it's still not equality. Until the union of two people is recognized with any sex under one name, it's not equality. There's no reason that a gay couple should not be able to say that they're married.
WCT: There was a rumor that while you were in the hospital, the coroner in Indiana was discriminating against you by refusing to release Christina's body. Did anything even close to this happen to you in the wake of Christina's death?
Alisha Brennon: Well, to put a stop to that rumor, that actually didn't happen because I was basically unaware of what was going on in the hospital because of my own injuries. I was never on the phone with anybody fighting to see her. I couldn't. I was in my own hospital bed. I was laid up. I was not moving. I was not eating. There was no fight there with the coroner, so I don't know if maybe they got the names mixed up with a different victim, but that was not me.
WCT: Did you know what had happened when the stage collapsed?
Alisha Brennon: All I knew was something hit me. I got knocked unconscious and when everybody started coming together and lifting up the stage, that's when I came right back. I lost consciousness for a split second, but I didn't know what happened until I was in the hospital and asked what happened because before all of that, while it was going on, while I was waiting for an ambulance, the only thing that I could think about was "Where is Christina?"
WCT: Do you remember seeing the stage fall?
Alisha Brennon: Our backs were turned to it. We were running away because we saw stuff starting to move on the stage, like just their equipment. It scared us, so we turned and started running, and that's the last thing. So we never saw anything.
WCT: Following this incident, the community really rallied around you.
Alisha Brennon: Yeah, there's not really a time when I don't hear from somebody or see someone that recognizes me and they come up and say that they're sorry for my loss and ask if there's anything they can do. It's random people I don't know, on top of the amazing friends that I have.
WCT: This has got to be overwhelming. You are kind of famous in our community at this point.
Alisha Brennon: Ha, yeah. Not for the right reasons, I guess.
WCT: Definitely not. How are you recovering physically?
Alisha Brennon: It's really touch-and-go day by day. The first day that I came back I thought that I was okay. I thought that I was doing better, and I got back to work and just couldn't do it. I work in front of a computer all day, and with the head injuries, it's hard to focus a full day, let alone a full week without getting headaches or just sitting here and thinking. It's coming along. I'm definitely making progress, but I have a long road.
WCT: Have they given you any indication about how long that road will be?
Alisha Brennon: About a month ago, they said it will be probably be six months to a year before I start feeling 80 percent or 90 percent. I try to tell myself I'm 100 percent a lot of the time just to get through the day, knowing full well I am not and won't be for a while.
WCT: What are you inspired to carry on for Christina?
Alisha Brennon: Making sure what she worked for and what she lived her life for, making sure somehow in some way, it's followed through with.
For later coverage, Indiana pays six-figure settlements to Santiago's estate and Brennon in stage collapse, Dec. 20, 2011 please follow the link: www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=35300
