When we talk about LGBTQ people and the courts today, we're often referring to the seemingly endless stream of LGBTQ victories coming out of judicial systems across the country.
But in the criminal courts, LGBTQ people have long faced a different reality. Perhaps nowhere has that been more visible than in Cook County, historically a model for criminal legal systems throughout the country.
In the next four weeks, Windy City Times will take readers through that structure today as we look at how LGBTQ people get caught in the system and the challenges they face once there.
LINKS:
View the full series at the link: www.windycitymediagroup.com/pdf/LGBTCriminalSystem.pdf .
Remembering Sakia Gunn: News coverage and homophobic murder here: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Remembering-Sakia-Gunn-News-coverage-and-homophobic-murder/43013.html .
This May 11 marked the tenth anniversary of the murder of Sakia Gunn of Newark, N.J. And her murder is mired, at best, by myths and, at worst, malicious intent. Depending, however, on the LGBTQ circles you run in and where you get your news, you may or may not know who she was. For many, Gunn was and still ...
Daniel Kirk Out in the prosecutors office here: /www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Daniel-Kirk-Out-in-the-prosecutors-office/43015.html .
Daniel Kirk: Out in the prosecutor's office - Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - Daniel Kirk characterizes his relationship with Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez quite simply: "From the moment I wake up in the morning and open my eyes, she's generally the first person I talk to, other than my partner, and when I go to sleep at night, she's the last person I talk to." He has been chief of staff ...
LGBT judges seek fairness on the bench here: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/LGBT-judges-seek-fairness-on-the-bench-/43014.html .
LGBT judges seek fairness on the bench - Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - As part of our Windy City Times criminal justice series, we wanted to provide a look at the openly LGBT judges in the Chicago area. This region has come a long way since 1994, when Tom Chiola was elected as the first openly gay person to win any office in Illinois. The Alliance of Illinois Judges is the professional networking ...
With Malice Aforethought: LGBTQs and the criminal justice system, and gallery of images here:
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/With-Malice-Aforethought-LGBTQs-and-the-criminal-justice-system/42712.html .
The legal definition of malice aforethought includes "an intent willfully to act in callous and wanton disregard of the consequences to human life." Throughout much of U.S. legal history, this would be an apt description of the legal system's approach to people beyond the traditional definitions of sexuality and gender identity. The ways the system has harmed the LGBTQ community ...
When Cruising Goes Bad The private aspects of public indecency here:
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/When-Cruising-Goes-Bad-The-private-aspects-of-public-indecency/42713.html .
Every place with a gay presence has had a place where men have gone to trickthe Ramble in New York City, Dolores Park in San Francisco and Union Station in Los Angeles are just a few. Chicago is no exception. Numerous locations around the citythe restrooms in the old Marshall Field & Co. building and the Palmer House Hotel on ...
Bars For Life LGBTQs and sex offender registries here:
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Bars-For-Life-LGBTQs-and-sex-offender-registries/42714.html .
In 1977, Anita Bryant launched her crusade against a recently passed Dade County, Fla., ordinance that banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. As the leader of a coalition named "Save Our Children," Bryant and her supporters tapped into an old perception of gays as sexual predators of children. In a now-famous statement, she declared, "As a mother, I ...
For justice or profit The challenge for US prisons here
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/For-justice-or-profit-The-challenge-for-US-prisons/42814.html .
For justice or profit? The challenge for U.S. prisons - By Clark Baim - What is prison for? Even if you've never visited a prisonvoluntarily or otherwiseyou're likely to have an image of what prison is. You might have an image of bars, watchtowers, guards and clanging gates. Inmates, too, are stereotyped: tattooed, pumping iron, and razor-wire dangerous; a great mass of the bad, the mad and the risky to know. When you work ...
State's attorney's LGBTQ hate crime specialist on crime justice>
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/States-attorneys-LGBTQ-hate-crime-specialist-on-crime-justice-/42815.html .
State's attorney's LGBTQ/hate crime specialist on crime, justice - Anyone who identifies as LGBTQ has good reason to be wary of the criminal justice system, but the Cook County state's attorney's office has stocked the ranks of its victim assistance program with at least one ally. Alicia Oeser is the state's attorney's LGBTQ and hate crimes specialist. When a case opens that clearly falls under either umbrella, it finds ...
Bruises left on Chicagos LGBTQ community by violence:
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Bruises-left-on-Chicagos-LGBTQ-community-by-violence/42817.html .
In March 2011, Dejon said good night to his friends and headed home from an evening out in Boystown. As he was walking down the sidewalk, a man wearing a ski mask got out of his car and charged toward him, screaming. Dejon was robbed, stabbed and left almost dead. He called for an ambulance. "Having it happen to me ...
Stranger danger Pickup crimes in the gay community:
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Stranger-danger-Pickup-crimes-in-the-gay-community-/42818.html .
Stranger danger: Pickup crimes in the gay community - Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - On April 15, 2010, a well-known Washington, D.C., school principal named Brian Betts was found murdered in his home. In the weeks that followed, investigators learned that Betts, 42, had arranged a meeting with his attacker through a sex chat line a few hours before the murder. Betts agreed to leave a door to his house unlocked so that 19-year-old ...
Beth Richie on race gender and the prison nation
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Beth-Richie-on-race-gender-and-the-prison-nation/42902.html
Beth Richie on race, gender and the 'prison nation' - Beth Richie is professor of African American Studies, criminology, law and justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago and director of the university's Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy. One of the most cited scholars on the intersection of race, gender and prisons, Richie also has a long and illustrious history as a feminist activist and was ...
Letter to a prisoner here:
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Letter-to-a-prisoner/42904.html .
Letter to a prisoner - A letter from Andrew Deppe to Charles in prison, Sept. 17, 2012. Dear Charles: Just checked my email and spent about an hour on the computer with the U.S. Chess Federation website, so I thought I'd compose a note to you at the keyboard this time. I got your letter of September 3 with the long list of legal websites ...
Dear Brother Behind Bars LGBTQ letter writing to prisoners here:
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Dear-Brother-Behind-Bars-LGBTQ-letter-writing-to-prisoners-/42905.html .
Dear Brother Behind Bars: LGBTQ letter-writing to prisoners - Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - Ditching technology and the email that goes with it, men reach for pen and paper to write letters to their pen pals behind prison bars. Brothers Behind Bars is a letter-writing campaign run though RFD (Radical Faerie Digest) magazine, a national quarterly publication geared toward gay, bisexual and transgender men, Dating back to 1974, RFD is a reader-written journal, focused ...
Cook County Jail works on transgender policies here:
www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Cook-County-Jail-works-on-transgender-policies-/42906.html .
Cook County Jail works on transgender policies - Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - Cook County Jail has quietly expanded its transgender policies and services in recent months, opening a protective unit for transgender women and bringing in local advocates to work with detainees and staff The women file in all at once, in a fit of laughter and hugs, turning a quiet, empty room into a reunion. Bonnie Wade and Channyn Lynne Parker ...
Chicago House partnering with jail on transgender programs here: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Chicago-House-partnering-with-jail-on-transgender-programs/42907.html .
Chicago House partnering with jail on transgender programs - Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - HIV service agency Chicago House has been making headlines the past two years for a massive expansion into transgender housing, employment, medical services, programs and legal support. Now, the organization is taking that work into Cook County Jail. The Cook County Sheriff's Office has announced a new partnership with Chicago House in a Windy City Times exclusive. "This is the ...
HIV behind bars in Cook County here: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/HIV-behind-bars-in-Cook-County/43116.html .
Victor Morales hasn't always been open about his HIV-positive status. "In county [jail] and prison it wasn't easy, because of how they still visualize HIV, even though these days there's so many medications and so many pills, " he said. When Morales went to jail this time, he said he told them he was HIV-positive. He was given his medications ...
Cook County juvenile detention center adopts LGBTQ policy here: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Cook-County-juvenile-detention-center-adopts-LGBTQ-policy/43117.html .
Cook County juvenile detention center adopts LGBTQ policy - Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - Behind Mykel Selph's desk hangs a printout detailing the differences between being a "boss" and a "leader." The "boss" category, marked with an angry face, notes reliance on authority and fear. The "leader" category, capped off with a smiley, describes a person who generates goodwill and gives due credit. Selph is not a person you expect to find at Cook ...
Changing the status quo on criminal justice here: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Changing-the-status-quo-on-criminal-justice/43118.html .
Changing the status quo on criminal justice - Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - As Illinois pushes for equal marriage, many state LGBTQ organizations will face a serious identity crisis. What happens to groups that formed to achieve equal marriage and non-discrimination laws? What issues will they fundraise off of? Will they be necessary now? Do they have the buy-in from those most marginalized in order to remain relevant and continue? Some groups have ...
Stroger LGBT clinic to serve detained youth here: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Stroger-LGBT-clinic-to-serve-detained-youth/43127.html .