Letter to the Editor, Windy City Times
Dear Editor
We have seen a press release from the March on Springfield coalition that Governor Pat Quinn and Senator Dick Durbin have been invited to speak at the October 22 march. Also mentioned as march participants are Lt Governor Sheila Simon and Comptroller Judy Topinka.
The March was not intended to be an opportunity for politicians to pontificate how friendly and helpful the Democratic Party has been to our movement when in fact we're in Springfield marching in October because of its dismal failure last spring!
More importantly, this decision dulls the message that it is the people mobilized who make change and not politicians attaching themselves to the movement.
Moreover, Dick Durbin is no friend of LGBTQ people. He and other Democratic senators helped scuttle the promised protections for LGBTQ immigrant partners in the misnamed "immigration reform" bill. Nor is Pat Quinn a friend of working people, LGBTQ or otherwise, since he joins with Mike Madigan and others in trying to eviscerate the pension benefits of Illinois public workers.
Roger Fraser & Bob Schwartz