Austin Baidas has spent the past year working for Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's election campaign, primarily working field and outreach, which includes being the campaign's liaison to the LGBT community.
It's a personal passion for Baidas, not just a profession.
His uncle, Randy Baidas, lives in Michigan with his partner of 27 years, Will Reeves. And when Reeves had to find a hospital for prostate cancer surgery, they ultimately went to one more than two hours from their houseto find one that respected their relationship, Baidas said, "And that's not right."
"I see how their relationship is treated, and they aren't treated fairly everywhere.
That really brings it home, makes it really personal for me."
Baidas, 39, who lives in Lakeview, has nothing but praise of Quinn's support of the LGBT communityand he wants everyone in Illinois to know it.
"The governor believes in fairness and equality," said Baidas, who pointed out that Quinn has three openly gay cabinet members and he has pledged to work to pass the civil unions bill and sign it into law. "The governor believes LGBT couples should be treated equally and should have equal rights to heterosexual couples. Plus, he supports funding of LGBT social service agencies.
"He wants the LGBT community to know that he's a big supporter of the LGBT community, and equality for all. When he talks about equality and fairness, it's not just talk; it's action."
Baidas has lived in Chicago for the past 13 years. He is the former CEO of Four Seasons Housing, an Indiana-based company that the economic downturn in the housing market forced him to liquidate in late 2008.
"I've always been interested in politics and always have followed politics, from the side [ in the past, ] " Baidas said. "I really like the governor; I like his values. I think he's smart, hard-working, honest. And this was a good opportunity to get involved in his campaign and make a difference.
"It's been great. The more I've gotten to know him, the more I like him. The governor is a real good guy.
"I first chose to work for his campaign because the governor is honest, hard-working and just a good person. Up through the primary, I was not the LGBT guy. I picked up [ that tag ] after the primary when I got involved with field and outreach."
Baidas is focused on making sure the LGBT community knows exactly where Quinn stands on LGBT-related issuesand also what one of his opponent's viewpoints are.
"We're running against Sen. Bill Brady who, last February, introduced a Constitutional amendment to ban civil unions and ban marriage equality. This is a bad guy; he doesn't want gay people to exist. We should be fired up against himand 100 percent of the LGBT community is not fired up about him. We need to change that." Baidas said.
Baidas said his direct interaction with the governor varies by the week, depending on Quinn's schedule. He has, though, been side by side with Quinn at the Chicago Pride Parade in June and North Halsted Market Days in Augustevents that Quinn personally told Baidas that he wanted to attend.
And Baidas also was there when Miss Foozie hugged Quinn at Market Days.
"Within the LGBT community, there are many people who are involved politically, and they are incredibly passionate and hard-working. It's incredible and heartwarming to know how much time, money and effort people within the LGBT community give to the political scene," Baidas said. "The frustration is that the majority of LGBT people are not engaged politicallyand yet there's so much at stake [ in this election ] that I wish all LGBT people were engaged politically."
Baidas, who is single, is a member of the board of directors of the Center on Halsted. He skates for the Chicago Gay Hockey Association ( CGHA ) and also plays multiple sports within the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association ( CMSA ) , such as softball, flag football, dodgeball and kickball. He has run six marathons and completed the annual Ride for AIDS.
In fact, Baidas was joined for a portion of the 2010 Ride by Sheila Simon, democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.
Baidas spent primary night at Quinn's campaign office. Baidas and others were watching the Quinn hotel party on TV, while tracking the incoming votes. It'll probably be the same scene for Baidas come election night, Nov. 2.
"It was a lot of fun, sort of like sportscheering for your team, late in a game," he said. "I really hope everyone votes this year. There are so many ways to vote nowadays; there really isn't an excuse for not voting."
Baidas feels that voting is crucial for the gay community: "If you care about LGBT values, and our opponent wins [ the election, ] LGBT rights will go backwards."