Open Letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago City Council: When a City Honors One but Dishonors Many
On Wednesday, December 10, 2014, the Chicago City Council and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, acting on behalf of "all" citizens of the City of Chicago, honored Francis Cardinal George with the city's highest honor, the Medal of Merit. Our elected officials inexplicably praised the Cardinal for having worked "to ensure that people of every race, creed, and social and ethnic background enjoy equal rights and opportunities" and that the Cardinal worked tirelessly "to improve the quality of life for all people."
Unfortunately, we, the LGBTQ Immigrant Rights Coalition of Chicago, know that the Cardinal's actions have not supported "equal rights and opportunities" for our community. And since our elected leaders, who normally have acted as our defenders, have chosen to overlook the Cardinal's hostility and ill will towards the LGBTQ immigrant communities of need and our allies, we are compelled to speak up.
In 2013, after the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of DOMA, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights ( ICIRR ) ( which did not prompt or sign onto this letter ) understood the positive immigration consequences of marriage recognition for binational same-sex couples in Illinois. Conscious that the LGBTQ community is also part of the immigrant community, ICIRR announced its support for same-sex marriage. Our community remembers very vividly when the Cardinal, along with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development ( CCHD ), led an effort to single out and defund any organization affiliated with ICIRR, simply because of ICIRR's public support for marriage equality.
The man now praised and bestowed the highest honor in the City of Chicago not only worked against those seeking to have equal rights, he forcefully worked against the very organizations that were working with some of the most needy populations in the city, including immigrant men, women and children.
The most hurtful aspect of Wednesday's City Council meeting is that our LGBTQ community and our families were ignored and marginalized. Our elected officials went out of their way to give the Medal of Merit to someone who went out of his way to cause financial pain to organizations that stood for marriage equality. It is shameful that the city's highest honor could go to someone who acted so spitefully. It is equally troubling that the resolution by the Mayor and Alderman Burke explicitly states that the Cardinal worked to ensure equal rights and opportunities for all people. Could anything be farther from the truth?
In 2013, a group of 29 prominent Catholics published an open letter to the Cardinal and the CCHD in the Chicago Sun-Times, requesting the Cardinal and the CCHD to withdraw their "cruel" threat against immigrant groups. At that time several Aldermen boldly stood up for the rights of LGBTQ persons and our supportive allies and immigrants' groups. The Cardinal and the CCHD, however, made good on their threats and systematically defunded groups that remained aligned with ICIRR, damaging those organizations' abilities to serve the most needy people in their communities. Yet a year and a half later on December 10, 2014 the City Council, including some of the same Aldermen and allies who previously criticized the Cardinal, spoke on record to support honoring the Cardinal with the highest award the city offers, an award that has not been bestowed in over 10 years.
The LGBTQ Immigrant Rights Coalition of Chicago is saddened by the overly broad language of the resolution that incorrectly frames the Cardinal as a fighter for equal rights for all. He is not and that is clear. Our elected officials failed to represent the interests of an important population of our diverse city: the LGBTQ community and our allies. We deserve better from our Mayor and our City Council and we welcome a public response.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, & Queer ( LGBTQ ) Immigrant Rights Coalition of Chicago
Contact: lgbtq.irc.chicago@gmail.com .
