Long-time gay Democratic activist Rocco Claps has been appointed director of the Illinois Department of Human Rights by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
This is believed to be the highest-level appointment of an openly gay individual in state history. The cabinet-level post is on par with other state agencies, such as the Department of Public Aid.
The position does require a Senate hearing and approval, but with Democrats in control of that body, Claps is expected to sail through.
Claps is well known to Chicago Democratic activists. He started in politics by working for Jimmy Carter's suburban Chicago campaign. In 1986, he worked on Adlai Stevenson Jr.'s campaign for governor.
From 1987-1992, he worked for powerful state Rep. Mike Madigan on the House Democratic staff. Claps said he worked with various state representatives on legislative issues.
Claps was also Gary LaPaille's volunteer GLBT community liaison when LaPaille was state party chairman. He worked on hate-crimes bills during that time, around 1989-1992.
In 1992, Claps worked on the Democratic National Convention. When Bill Clinton won, Claps began work for the Democratic National Committee, as the first liaison to the GLBT community, under DNC Chairman David Wilhelm.
In 1996, he was chief of staff for the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Then he went to work for the Clinton administration, working for Donna Shalala in the Department of Health and Human Services for a year as director of scheduling and advance work.
Claps then helped on the 2000 Democratic Convention, and subsequently returned to Chicago as deputy assessor for the Cook County Assessor's office.
After Blagojevich won last fall, Claps said David Wilhelm and Sen. Carol Ronen contacted him about working for the new Democratic governor. Claps had only helped on some small events during the campaign, but he was eager to take a post with the state.
The Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) oversees discrimination cases that come before the Illinois Human Rights Commission.
Illinois statutes right now don't cover GLBTs.
'I am looking forward to the opportunity to expand that language to include, among other things, gay, lesbian and trans people so there would be state protections,' Claps said.
The state's hate-crimes commission also comes under the IDHR.
The staff for IDHR is 154 right now, and Claps said he expected to start work Feb. 18 as acting director until the Senate votes on the appointment.
'This job brings together two parts of my life that I have always gotten rewards from,' Claps said. 'I have been an administrator, and I have been involved in gay and lesbian politics, which included being an inside advocate for a lot of concerns the community had. I view this job as an opportunity to put those two things together, and to expand it.
'I have also done a lot of community relations beyond the gay and lesbian community. At the DNC I was deputy director of constituency outreach, beyond just gays and lesbians, so I was doing a lot of events and activities for the White House and DNC, among the African-American, Hispanic, disabled and other communities.'
Claps added that he is 'very exited about working for a governor who really is looking to make some changes. Who will look at things with a new eye—how we can improve things and to finally make changes people have been wanting for a long time.'