A new decision from the city's Commission on Human Relations barring spouses and partners from serving on advisory councils together has community activist Robert Castillo crying foul.
Castillo was appointed to the Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues ( ACGLI ) in 1993 and served until 1999. During that time, his longtime partner, John Pennycuff, joined the council, and the two served together for about a year and a half.
Pennycuff is currently employed as office manager at Lambda Publications, publisher of Windy City Times, and Castillo writes occasionally for En La Vida.
Earlier this year, Castillo was interviewed for the position of Gay and Lesbian Community Liaison vacated by Mary Morten in January. When he was not chosen, he said, Human Relations Commissioner Clarence Wood asked him in a letter sent in July to rejoin the council.
He went through the application process for appointment, and was recently told, by phone, about the partner policy. He has sought a statement in writing, he said, and been refused.
"Nothing's written, nothing's a done deal," said Ken Gunn, managing deputy commissioner at the Commission. He said this is the first time the issue of spouses and partners has come up on one of the city's eight advisory councils.
Castillo has alleged that the policy is aimed at keeping him off of the council because he has been a vocal critic of the selection process behind the community liaison post.
"My partner and I served on the council together previously, and it wasn't a problem, so I can't understand why it is a problem now," he said.
However, Gunn said the move is in response to continuing criticism about the insular nature of the advisory councils. He said the commission routinely gets complaints that the groups aren't inclusive and that you have to know someone to get on them.
"We try to get as diverse a pool as possible," he said.
Castillo asserted that the policy assumes that two partners think and act alike and hold the same opinions on issues. He challenged that assumption by pointing out that he is Latino and Pennycuff is white and that they bring two unique perspectives to the council.
"Basically, each individual is not being able to be judged on their own merits," he said. Gunn said, however, "If we let partners serve, what kind of message are we sending to the community?"
Castillo countered, "That this kind of tacit discrimination is OK, what kind of message does that send?"
He said the policy amounts to bias based on "marital" status, a situation made even more insulting by the fact that he and his partner cannot legally marry.
He questioned how the commission plans to enforce the policy in the future, asking whether two people who become involved while serving on a council together will be forced to make a sacrifice.
"And at what stage is it a partnership? Does the commission then become the boyfriend/girlfriend police?"
Wood did not return a call seeking comment.
Castillo stressed that he holds no personal animosity toward Gunn or the council but that he wants people in the community to know how the councils are being run. He took the commission to task for making the decision without the input of council members.
He plans to address ACGLI in the future about the policy and to pursue the issue with the commission.
Of the eight councils, ACGLI is the toughest to get appointed to, Gunn said.
Each council has 21 members who serve three-year terms. Bylaws that limit each member's tenure to two terms are rarely followed, Gunn said.