Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

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

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Dobson protesters picket Radio 'Hall of Shame'
by Amy Wooten
2008-11-12

This article shared 9879 times since Wed Nov 12, 2008
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


LGBT activists and their allies picketed outside Chicago's Renaissance Hotel Nov. 8, where Focus on the Family's James Dobson was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. Photo by Amy Wooten

Hundreds of LGBT activists and their allies braved the bitter cold Nov. 8 to demonstrate downtown against Focus on the Family's James Dobson.

An estimated 500 people, many of them young and new faces, gathered outside of Chicago's Renaissance Hotel, where Dobson was being awarded by the Chicago-based Museum of Broadcast Communications. For months, local and national LGBT activists planned to demonstrate against the museum's induction of Dobson into the National Radio Hall of Fame. Although the protest was initially going to be focused on the museum awarding Dobson, who has preached anti-gay hate over the airwaves for decades, many people also marched in solidarity against the passage of California's Proposition 8 that evening. Dobson played a pivotal role in Proposition 8's passage, and his group, Focus on the Family, donated $800,000 to the anti-gay-marriage measure. Proposition 8 banned same-sex marriage in California, and invalidated the marriages of thousands of gay and lesbian couples who wed during the time it was legal.

Chicago's Gay Liberation Network ( GLN ) and the New York-based organization Truth Wins Out ( TWO ) initiated the protest.

Although the demonstration had a large turnout, not all members of the LGBT community supported the protest. GLN co-founder Andy Thayer said that while some people did not understand why activists would want to bother protesting Dobson, brushed off as just another far-right bigot, he reminded those present that the Focus on the Family founder donated money to Proposition 8 and helped jump start the effort.

'Dobson's hate speech led to the retraction of our civil rights in California,' Thayer added. 'Hate speech has real consequences.'

Those present yelled chants, such as 'Hall of Shame,' throughout the evening, and felt that the Museum of Broadcast Communications showed a double standard by honoring an individual who is anti-gay.

According to Focus on the Family spokesperson Gary Schneeberger, roughly a quarter of the estimated 450-475 people who attended the museum's event in the hotel's banquet hall were from Focus on the Family. Tickets to attend the event started at $500 per person. Schneeberger told the gay press that he respected the protesters, saying they are just 'people exercising their first amendment right to free speech.' He added that free speech is 'something Dobson has been exercising and stressing for over 20 years.'

In addition to the protesting that took place outside of the hotel, a very small group of protestors went inside to deliver a 'certificate of bigotry' to Dobson. According to Gender Justice United for Societal Transformation's Sam Finkelstein, one man, Roger Fraser, was detained by the police. GLN confirmed that Fraser was charged with criminal trespass and was held at a police station at 18th and State streets before being released on an I-bond around 1:30 a.m.

TWO founder Wayne Besen told Windy City Times that he was 'thrilled' the demonstration had such a large turnout, which he felt was fueled by energy and anger over the passage of Proposition 8.

'There is a lot of restless energy,' Besen added. 'We need to turn this energy into tangible activism.'

Besen expressed optimism that LGBT will see some victories across the U.S. in the near future, especially under the leadership of President-elect Barack Obama. He called Proposition 8 a 'speed bump,' and said that there is hope, especially if people remained energized and involved. 'These moments like Dobson and Proposition 8 turn people from being passive to being involved,' he said. 'It it what happened to me when I was a young man.'

Local activists have already planned a follow-up protest against Proposition 8. It will take place Sat., Nov. 15, 12:30 p.m., at Federal Plaza. The Chicago protest is part of a series of nationwide protests also taking place on that day. See www.jointheimpact.com .


This article shared 9879 times since Wed Nov 12, 2008
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Chicago History Museum announces "Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s - 70s exhibition 2024-03-14
--From a press release - CHICAGO (March 14, 2024) ā€” The Chicago History Museum is thrilled to announce its upcoming exhibition, "Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960sā€”70s." Set to open on Saturday, May 18, 2024, this exhibition is ...


Gay News

Women's History Month doesn't do enough to lift up Black lesbians 2024-03-12
- Fifty years ago, in 1974, the Combahee River Collective (CRC) was founded in Boston by several lesbian and feminist women of African descent. As a sisterhood, they understood that their acts of protest were shouldered by ...


Gay News

Pro-choice activists protest crisis pregnancy center on International Women's Day 2024-03-11
- The rainy weather on March 8 didn't deter a passionate group of pro-choice protesters from gathering in Old Town on International Women's Day. Following the opening of Women's Care Center—a crisis pregnancy center—directly next to Pl ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Utah board member, Baths founder dies, Fla. protests, DoJ equity plan 2024-02-16
- Utah's Republican governor and lieutenant governor urged the State Board of Education to take action against a conservative board member whose social-media post questioning the gender of a high school basketball player incited threats against the ...


Gay News

Judge rules city's rejection of protest permit around DNC was justified 2024-02-01
- A judge upheld the city's denial of protest permits for a march around the Democratic National Convention this fall after an appeal from its organizers. A coalition of groups under the banner of Bodies Outside of ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+, reproductive rights organizers plan march on Democratic National Convention, appeal permit rejection 2024-01-31
- Organizers planning a protest march outside the Democratic National Convention in August are appealing the city's denial of their permits. The group of organizers under the banner of Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws had been planning ...


Gay News

Scott Free's new album revives protest music for the modern era 2024-01-09
By Alec Karam - Gay Chicago musician Scott Free wants to bring protest music back to the mainstream. With his new album Songs to Fight Oppression, Free has unveiled several new sing-along social justice songs to accompany protests, or simply ...


Gay News

In D.C., Black LGBTQ+ lawmakers protest Nigerian wedding arrests 2023-09-14
- On Sept. 12, Black LGBTQ+ lawmakers—led by Maryland state Del. Gabriel Acevero and D.C. Councilmember Zachary Parker, and alongside the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) and other advocacy groups—protested outside ...


Gay News

Protest action to be held at site of Sept. 9 Jason Aldean concert in Tinley Park 2023-09-08
- The Revolution Club Chicago has announced a protest action against 46- year-old country music star and Nashville resident Jason Aldean outside of his Highway Desperado Tour appearance Sept. 9 at Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre. The protest ...


Gay News

Chicago activists counter-protest Rally for Life event 2023-06-24
- Chicago pro-choice activists attended a counter-protest of a pro-life rally marking the one-year anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24. The counter-protest was organized by a coalition of organizations, including Stop Trans ...


Gay News

LGBTQ, women's rights supporters to protest for civil rights in Chicago June 24 2023-06-12
--From a joint press release - On the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Dobbs anti-abortion decision, with a major anti-LGBTQ decision expected this month, and hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills pending in statehouses around the nation, organizers vow a rebirth of the spirit ...


Gay News

Violent clash takes place at Calif. school-board meeting over LGBTQ+ rights 2023-06-07
- On June 6, protesters clashed and fights erupted outside a meeting of the Glendale Unified School District board, which was scheduled to vote on recognizing June as Pride Month, ABC7 reported. After the skirmishes, police in ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Alabama protest, antibiotic, bi politician, high-school musicals, Key West 2023-05-12
- Alabama LGBTQ Action is urging the LGBTQ+ community and allies to join the group at a march on the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery on Tuesday, May 16, to demand equal rights for all state residents, ...


Gay News

WORLD Hungarian law, French official, anti-Uganda protest, Rahm Emanuel 2023-04-14
- Germany and France are joining the EU Commission's infringement proceedings against Hungary over its anti-LGBTQ+ law, according to NBC News. The European Commission referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU in mid-2022 over ...


Gay News

NATIONAL 'Don't Say Gay,' anti-trans bills, gay Irish leader visits, gay Calif. mayor 2023-03-25
- In Indiana, approximately 100 students from the Center For Inquiry School 27 held a walk-out to protest the state's "Don't Say Gay" bill, which would restrict how teachers are able to discuss sexual orientation or gender ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.