A purportedly satiric article threatening to out five city council members as gay unless they respond to the demands of Chicago taxi drivers has sparked objections from gay rights advocates and community members.
The article, published March 6 by the Chicago Dispatcher, a taxi-related trade publication, said that the newspaper "has learned that five of the city's 50 aldermen are closeted homosexuals. In the next issue … we will disclose their names unless our demands are met. We did not want it to come to this but our city government has been allowing unfair competition in violation of the law."
Among the demands listed in the article, written by Dispatcher publisher George Lutfallah, are enforcing existing taxicab ordinances; banning ridesharing permanently; and "requiring all rideshare drivers to go to the DMV." The article also makes jokes about female drivers: "Taxi driving is a male-dominated profession and it should remain that way. The last place for a woman is behind the wheel."
The Dispatcher publishes many satiric articlesother topics include, "Cabdriver Accidently Picks Up Black Man" and "Leaning Tower of Niles to be Straightened"but the outing article is not clearly labeled as satire. Officials from Equality Illinois did not find the issues portrayed by Lutfallah to be a matter for comedy.
"If the publication thought such a commentary would further the cause in the taxi drivers' ongoing dispute with the city, it will surely backfire," said Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasev in a statement March 11. "No one likes to be threatened or ridiculed, whether individually or as an institution, and with its commentary this publication surely has injected more cynicism and distrust instead of raising awareness about their concerns. Such comments as were contained in the article are simply not funny and are not to be excused."
The Illinois Transportation Trade Association concurred. "The ITTA and our affiliated taxi companies unequivocally condemn the piece that ran in today's Chicago Dispatcher and the hateful message it sends," ITTA spokesperson Angela Benander told CBS2 March 11. "This misguided attempt at parody has no place in this discussion and demonstrates an extreme lack of judgment or sensitivity. This shameful editorial certainly does not represent the beliefs of our association, the thousands of hardworking employees in the transportation industry nor those of our valued customers."
Chicago Dispatcher's piece is here: bit.ly/1fKkdUD .
CBS2's story is here: cbsloc.al/1gm9gr4 .