The Anti-Defamation League ( ADL ) and Equality Illinois partnered to host a forum discussing the state of civil unions and LGBT rights in Illinois June 23 at the downtown tavern/restaurant The Gage. Both state Rep. Greg Harris and Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov presented their perspectives on the progress of LGBT rights and the legislative process of the proposed civil-union Senate billnot to be confused with same-sex marriage, which is an issue of semantics that often confused voters or dissuaded traditionalist who affirm equality but not the language surrounding it.
"I think building awareness [ around the issue of civil unions ] will help us out in the long run so that we don't run into problems like they had in Maine or California, where there was a backlash and people said 'Oh, these are special rights and we're going to vote them out,'" Harris said.
ADLan organization that traditionally seeks support for, and fights against discrimination in, Jewish communitiesfound it to be a natural part of its organizations' evolution to form an alliance with LGBT organizations such as Equality Illinois.
"In our eyes this is an issue of pure and simple fairness and equality; we knew representative Harris would need a lot of help and we thought it would be a great opportunity to inform the community about what the bill means and other issues about the LGBT community to be informed and educated citizens," said ADL Regional Director Lonnie Nasatir.
The speecheswhich lasted about an hour for both speakersrevealed such realities as the lack of rights same-sex partners in Illinois have as couples, outside of private companies that provide equal benefits to their employees.
"If you look at the study recently released, 76 percent of fortune 500 companies offer domestic-partner benefits to their gay and lesbian employees as they define them [ an approximation, according to a 2009 Human Rights Campaign corporate-equality index ] ," Harris continued. "For the average person, they do not have access to these benefits. ... I think civil unions will pass in Illinois and we will have marriage equality."
Bernard Cherkasov spoke after almost missing the event due to the weather, delivering promising news from Washington, D.C., after attending a meet and greet with President Obama.
"On the federal level, President Obama discussed the hate-crimes bill ( which passed Oct. 9, 2009 ) . He still plans to work with congress to repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and he acknowledged the current position on this as flawed and, lastly, he is working toward ending employment discrimination," Cherkasov said.
According to Harris, a connection on a basic human level is importantwhich is why he urges people to "come out," proposing that it is more difficult to strip the rights away from LGBT family and friends. He works with a committee of organizersmainly college students and senior citizenswho travel to all 102 counties in Illinois to put a face on these issues.
Harris stressed, "You have to pick up the phone, write a letter and tell your representatives in order to let them know we are serious about this."