Just hours after Mayor Rahm Emanuel's budget sailed through city council, the Advisory Council on LGBT Issues (ACLGBTI) convened its monthly meeting next door Nov. 16, assuredly now its second to last.
The 2012 budget may have significant implications for LGBT people, among them the dissolution of ACLGBTI as it now stands and the layoff of its director, Bill Greaves.
ACLGBTI will be merged with a council on women's issues come January, and all members of both councils will be dismissed for new appointments.
"I see thisand you can quote on me on thisas a huge step backward in the city's commitment to human rights," said Beth Kelly, chair of ACLGBTI, who argued that the changes undo historical progress both symbolically and practically for the community.
Kelly, who attended a meeting of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations earlier in the day, reported back to ACLGBTI that all of their duties would end with the end of the year. An entirely new group will be appointed for the "Council on Gender and LGBT Issues."
In addition, Kelly said, chairs of the new advisory councils will not be part of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, which oversees the councils. In past years, chairs of the councils have sat on the Board of Commissioners. Kelly said that Commission Director Mona Noreiga told her that this practice was also ending.
Noriega said in a statement to Windy City Times that reorganization will help the city focus its resources.
The reorganization allows for a more integrated approach to address civil rights issues," she wrote. "We know that issues of discrimination are inter-related and thus addressing the intersection of sexual orientation and gender identity with gender, age, disability, or race (to name only a few) will be more effective than addressing each as a single issue."
Changes to the ordinance governing the councils, Kelly said, were made without public consultation.
ACLGBTI members argue that their dissolution had little to do with the city budget, as all of them (with the exception of Director Greaves) were volunteers. They said that they had offered to stay on as volunteers but that such requests were ignored.
The termination of ACLGBTI means an uncertain future for the Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame (GLHF), the City event that honors LGBT Chicago leaders annually.
"The Hall of Fame is an entity owned by the city," Greaves reported to ACLGBTI.
The city pulled all of its financial support for the event earlier in the year. In response, ACLGBTI members toyed with the idea of dissolving their Hall of Fame committee in an attempt to free GLHF of its municipal ties for fundraising purposes. However, even if the council voted to dissolve that committee, the city will continue to own GLHF.
GLHF rests in the care of ACLGBTI until that council is disbanded in January. Then, GLHF becomes the responsibility of the Commission on Human Relations. In order to run it, LGBT people would have to request stewardship from the city, or the city would have to donate the entity to the community.
Noriega, when asked, did not comment on the specific future of GLHF stating only that, "The mayor attended his first Hall of Fame ceremony and reiterated that the City is committed to supporting and promoting the accomplishments of the LGBT communities."
LGBT activists have long debated GLHF's ownership. While many argue that the city gets undue credit for the event, others say that its municipally-sponsored status gives it extra prestige.
Regardless, Hall of Fame organizers say they are weighing the options.
"We hope to continue as an organization," said Israel Wright, associate director of the Hall of Fame.
In addition to owning GLHF, the City also owns all of the decades of archives from ACLGBTI. ACLGBTI members say they want copies of those documents for historical record.
ACLGBTI has just one meeting left. Unlike past years, the council plans to meet in December.
Still, ACLGBTI may have trouble completing its last-minute business. Despite outcry about ACLGBTI's dissolution last month, the November meeting failed to draw the seven members needed for quorum, and ACLGBTI could not vote on anything.
One council member lamented on the "apparent apathy" of those who failed to show. Items that could not be voted on were postponed until December.
Over the years, some LGBT activists have griped that ACLGBTI lacked a clear purpose and that it did not have the power to affect change quickly enough.
"It is the nature of community activists to want quick fixes," said Kelly, a self-identified activist herself, when asked about the criticisms. Kelly said that city government by nature is slow.
Not all LGBT-related budget items produced scorn from the community. HIV/AIDS work was flat-funded, a relief to service providers who feared cuts.
Anthony Martinez, executive director of The Civil Rights Agenda, said that despite concerns, he applauds the mayor's attempt at fixing the budget.
"Obviously, we are in a very difficult economic climate and this budget will help secure a better future," Martinez said. "I would additionally like to thank the Mayor for level funding HIV/AIDS and increasing the funding to homeless shelters focusing on homeless youth. Protecting the most vulnerable in our city should always be a priority."
One who has been quiet on the changes is Greaves, whose 11-year position has been cut entirely.
Greaves would not comment on his feelings about the reorganization or his layoff, stating only of his personal situation, "I am looking forward to the opportunities that these changes will bring."