Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

LETTERS
2014-09-10

This article shared 4086 times since Wed Sep 10, 2014
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


Leaving a legacy

For all things, there is a season. All business relationships come to an end, and the only thing that is permanent is change.

As a regular, longtime reader of Windy City Times, how could I miss the poignant, bittersweet news about the selling of Andersonville's iconic independent bookstore highlighting the population for which it is named, "Women and Children," on North Clark Street ( "Women and Children bookstore sold," July 16 )?

While it is a change I have been aware of for some time, it nevertheless shocked me a bit and saddened me when I actually saw that news in print. We can only hope that the new owners will continue and perhaps even advance the courageous visions and implementation of former owners Linda Bubon and Ann Christophersen, dedicated to the core for many decades. They bequeathed a literary and community legacy to countless supporters and admirers that all civilized, culturally connected people will long treasure.

I will miss them, and I thank them for the memories. It is not possible to erase experience.

With gratitude,

Leon J. Hoffman, Ph.D.

Chicago

Parading LGBTs

Dear Editor:

The Rainbow Sash Movement ( LGBT Roman Catholics ) is impressed that Cardinal Dolan puts Irish community unity above the sectarian needs of Catholic homophobia. By welcoming the LGBT NBC contingent to participate in New York City's St. Patrick's Day parade next year, he has turned a page in the relationship with the New York LGBT community. We see this as an opportunity for meaningful dialogue.

We are saddened by the clownish response from the Catholic League and hope it can put a muzzle on its guttural mouth when it comes to the issue of diversity in the parade.

Long gone are the days since this parade is recognized as only a Roman Catholic event. Certainly, that is part of its history, but it should not been seen as a platform from which to promote intellectual homophobia in the name of God, as the late Cardinal O'Connor did.

We believe the Irish community in New York is a diversified community which, like the Gay Pride Parade, celebrates its culture and not the promotion of sectarianism.

Congratulations, Cardinal Dolan, for taking to heart Pope Francis' lead. Now is the time for Cardinal O'Malley of Boston to lift that city's ban on LGBT participation in the Boston St. Patrick's Day parade.

Bill O'Connor

Rainbow Sash Movement

Wards matter

Dear Editor:

One has to question whether Michael O'Connor ( "Wards hurt" letter in Windy City Times, Sept. 3 issue ) has visited the 46th Ward since the election of James Cappleman as our alderman.

He cites the closing of the Hotel Chateau, where the few residents living there existed in squalor and dangerous conditions. You may recall that at least one resident had to be removed by ambulance and would likely have died there if not for the intervention. Of course, those who only used the Hotel Chateau for their "business enterprises" but lived quite comfortably elsewhere profiting from the profits of their illegal drug trade were disturbed. As one of the owners of the few businesses who remained when the hotel closed said, "It sure ruined the drug trade!"

Since it has been closed a total renovation has been taking place—tuck-pointing, installing new windows, total rebuilding of the sidewalk and, now, preparing a new entrance. Having lived in the neighborhood for more than 40 years, I learned to warn visitors to avoid the area in front of the Chateau for fear they would be attacked or injured during the frequent brawls that occurred there or from bottles falling from the window sills. One can hope that it will reopen to provide safe living conditions for residents in the future.

O'Connor also cites the controversy about the Salvation Army ( an avowed anti-LGBT organization ) distributing food—and, one assumes, religious tracts—to the homeless who gathered near the Wilson Avenue underpass while ignoring their other needs. Cappleman rightly argued that aid to these individuals needs to include access to more comprehensive services.

Perhaps O'Connor and other professional protesters who recruit well-meaning but uninformed persons to join them should learn more about what they are opposing before leading a charge.

Roger A. May

Chicago

Community investment

Are we witnessing the passing of the gay ghetto?

What is happening with the gay ghetto in Chicago? Is it being dismantled in front of our eyes?

We have heard the negatives of a ghetto mentality, but have we really looked at the positives of the ghetto? My experiences are that it was a place of welcome and safety for so many in our community, when all around bigots attempted to keep us in our place. It was out of the ghetto that we realized our political, social, religious and cultural agendas. It was from here we were enabled to take our issues to the streets.

I am not sure what the answer is, but I do believe we must take seriously this passing moment in our movement's history in Chicago. This community has a lot of wonderfully talented people who have the ability to renew the LGBT culture in Boystown and further develop our sister ghetto in Andersonville.

Some of our political leadership tells us same-sex marriage is not the end, but rather the beginning. I believe they are right. Is it possible I wonder to rediscover the gay/LGBT ghetto that gave birth to our rights movement? We have so much more to do.

I would like to quote from Suzanna Walters' new book, The Tolerance Trap: How God, Genes, and Good Intentions Are Sabotaging Gay Equality. "No civil rights movement worthy of the name has banked its future on being tolerated or accepted," she says. We tolerate bad wine and a boring film.

So I would ask you my sisters and brothers to put your thinking caps on, roll up your sleeves and begin anew to build our ghetto of hope, where many of our dreams came into being. It's where all members are valued not based on their looks, economics, race, sex, age, ability or disability, or gender identity, but rather the deeper quality of who we are as human beings.

I would be curious to hear others' thoughts on this matter.

Joe Murray

Chicago

Dealing with stigma

I wanted to be sure I submitted my contribution to the conversations leading up to A Day with HIV. [Editor's note: "A Day with HIV" took place Sept. 9.] Below is my letter about stigma:

When I was first diagnosed with HIV, I was more concerned about my health and the effects HIV might have on my physical appearance than I was about stigma or discrimination.

Ironically, the hardest parts about being HIV positive are stigma and discrimination. The world around us teaches us to fear HIV and those who are infected or at risk of being infected. HIV-positive people face the prospect of being marginalized by family and friends, terminated from jobs, evicted and physically harmed when their statuses are revealed. These are external sources of stigma and discrimination.

Equally harmful is internal stigma or "self-stigma," which refers to how people living with HIV regard themselves. Before my diagnosis I, too, feared people with HIV. And, even though I later learned my fear of HIV was not at all based in science, that internalized fear remained with long after I was diagnosed. The toll it took on my self-worth was nearly irreversible.

This week, I will regain control of my self-worth by participating in Positively Aware's annual #ADayWithHIV anti-stigma photo campaign. Whether you are infected or affected with HIV, join the global conversation via social media using the hashtag #ADayWithHIV. Talking openly and honestly about HIV is essential to reducing stigma and eradicating the disease.

Ken Williams

No shame needed

Dear Editor:

Coming out two decades ago was hard. The American culture was not, for the most part, ready to embrace me. Will and Grace were not yet friends. Michael Sam hadn't started school. Edie Windsor and her wife were living without legal protection. Sure it's easier now, but there is a different type of "coming out" with which individuals still struggle.

It's one of the greatest issues that the gay community has ever faced—not to mention our nation. It's not a cultural revolution like sports or marriage. Rather, HIV/AIDS, which has been around far longer, continues to polarize people with a nearly impenetrable wall of stigma and shame.

Having been positive for nearly a decade, I've seen and felt the pain and rejection from the uneducated population ( gay and straight ) who are misguided about what the CDC now considers a manageable chronic illness, just like diabetes. In other words, it is no longer a death threat.

While it doesn't provide a good chuckle like television, or is a political issue to debate, it does give us a reason to rally: to educate one another so we can eliminate the misconceptions of HIV/AIDS. With infection rates continuing to grow and no cure, the energy we use to educate ourselves could not only make the same headway as we have with our other causes, but perhaps we could celebrate that we are a community who truly cares about its own.

Rob Campbell

Chicago


This article shared 4086 times since Wed Sep 10, 2014
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Without compromise: Holly Baggett explores lives of iconoclasts Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap 2024-03-04
- Jane Heap (1883-1964) and Margaret Anderson (1886-1973), each of them a native Midwesterner, woman of letters and iconoclast, had a profound influence on literary culture in both America and Europe in the early 20th Century. Heap ...


Gay News

Theater Review: one in two 2023-03-01
- Playwright: Donja R. Love. At: PrideArts at Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway Tickets: 773-857-0222; $35. Runs through March 19 Playwright Donja R. Love stresses that lower case letters should be used for the title of ...


Gay News

New York Times publishes transphobic column one day after an open letter condemning anti-trans coverage, HRC responds 2023-02-16
--From a press release - WASHINGTON— This morning, the New York Times published yet another opinion piece attacking the transgender and non-binary community. The piece, "In Defense of J.K. Rowling" was written by Pamela Paul and was published merely one day ...


Gay News

Showrunners send abortion-protection letters to Hollywood execs 2022-08-02
- Recently, more than 400 TV creators and showrunners—all of them women (including Shonda Rhimes, Issa Rae, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Natasha Lyonne and Ava DuVernay)—sent letters to top executives at Hollywood studios ...


Gay News

VIEWPOINT: LETTERS Pride: Remembering who we are 2022-05-30
- The LGBTQAI community echoes the mantra of secular society: Happiness comes from sex, money and power. Life is too busy with work and leisure to have time for religion and/or values. During this period of Pride ...


Gay News

THEATER Underscore's 'Notes & Letters' running through May 28 2022-05-12
- Underscore Theatre Company celebrates its 10th-anniversary season with the world premiere of the musical Notes & Letters, which features book, music and lyrics by Annabelle Lee Revak (she/her) and is ...


Gay News

LETTERS A difference in opinion about Vatican document 2022-04-07
- I am responding to DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burks, who issued a press release that Windy City Times published. A newly released document from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education could trigger a new wave of ...


Gay News

LETTER Remembering Archbishop Tutu 2021-12-28
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu passed away in Cape Town, South Africa, on Dec. 26 at the age of 90. In 1984, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his efforts to bring about a peaceful transition to a society with ...


Gay News

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Thanksgiving is a time to reflect 2021-11-24
- Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for a God that created us and loves us. The sins of racism, sexism, ageism and classicism are neoclassic examples of how we have fallen short. We have come ...


Gay News

VIEWS In defense of the word 'lesbian' 2021-11-19
- When I decided to come out to my mom, I wanted to wait until I could say the word "lesbian" out loud. But as I sat her down, I tripped over the long string of letters. "Mom, I'm gay," I blurted ...


Gay News

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Opinion: The parade must go on 2021-09-02
- I am responding to the letter from Tim Frye, the current 2021 coordinator of Chicago's Pride Parade, about the cancellation of the event that was scheduled for Oct. 3. I agree that this decision takes in ...


Gay News

LETTER A matter of race 2021-05-20
- I applaud Mayor Lori Lightfoot's courageous statement on only giving one-on-one interviews to journalists of color. She obviously wants to see a public dialogue on this matter. White privilege is a topic we must look at ...


Gay News

Hate mail threatening Obamas, Biden, Harris sent to DuSable 2021-04-28
- The Secret Service is investigating six threatening letters sent to the DuSable Museum of African American History that mention President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the Obama family, among others, The Chicago Tribune reported. ...


Gay News

LETTER The Vatican's words and actions do not echo love 2021-03-18
- The LGBTQA community is responding with shock, anger and frustration at the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith statement concerning same-sex unions. Many in our community can't understand why Pope Francis would allow such a ...


Gay News

LETTER Federal anti-discrimination protection? Inevitable 2021-02-06
- =The astute can predict the future with more than a modicum of confidence by examining history. Nate Silver did this last year at fivethirtyeight.com, as did Vegas oddsmakers, in predicting the victory of President Joe Biden over der ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.