To the Editor:
The Aug. 29 report in Windy City Times, 'Chicago Wants Police Beating Case Dismissed,' by Amy Wooten, raised serious concerns in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities about the City of Chicago's stance toward the 14th Amendment.
The City of Chicago's attorneys have clarified their position as follows:
'Statements by the attorney for Mr. Ruppert are misleading. This attorney brought the suit under both sections 1981 and 1983 [ of U.S. Code Title 42 ] . The City is only moving to dismiss the 1981 claim because the U.S. Supreme Court holds that section is only available for actions based on ethnicity and ancestry. The City is not trying to dismiss the 1983 claim, which allows the attorney to proceed on the basis of sexual orientation.'
The City of Chicago remains committed to the full equality of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.
Yours sincerely,
William W. Greaves
Director/Community Liaison
Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues
Chicago Commission on Human Relations
Dear Editor:
I have read a number of recent articles criticizing the Governor for using his authority to amend the fiscal year 2008 Illinois State Budget and expand healthcare for everyone in Illinois. It is true that he has fought to make health care a priority in this year's budget to ensure that everyone can access the health care they need, and that includes all those impacted by HIV/AIDS. The Governor's commitment to meeting these needs is unrivaled. In fact, overall HIV/AIDS funding has increased by almost 70 percent since Governor Blagojevich came into office—from $46 million in 2003 to more than $78 million in this year's budget.
Under this administration, we have seen the greatest expansion of the AIDS Drug Assistance Program ( ADAP ) than ever before. New cutting edge life saving drugs are routinely added to the drug formulary as they are approved by the FDA and the formulary has been expanded to include drugs to help alleviate the sometimes difficult side effects of treatment.. Under Governor Blagojevich, more than $5 million dollars of state funds has been added to the ADAP program to insure that no Illinois resident who qualifies is denied access to these medications. This is being done at a time when federal funding is slowing and other states are enacting cost containment strategies. In Illinois, unlike some other states, there is no waiting list for access to these drugs under the ADAP program.
Housing for people with HIV/AIDS has also been at the forefront of this Administration's fight against HIV. More than $2 million dollars of state funds were distributed last year to 16 community housing groups across Illinois to insure that people with HIV have stable housing in a supportive environment. Again, these are funds being added to the program as the federal commitment to housing for HIV positive persons shrinks.
We have also seen the introduction of one of the nations most recognized HIV programs designed to eliminate mother to child transmission of the virus. Testing of newborn infants when the mother's HIV status is not known has been dramatically successful in helping attain our goal of eliminating mother to child transmission.
All of us in Illinois are keenly aware of the impact that HIV has had not only on the gay community, but the devastating impact now being seen in our minority populations. To address this issue, Governor Blagojevich created and funded the BASUAH ( Brother and Sister United against HIV ) program to raise awareness in the African American population with a prevention message designed to help stem the tide of infections. This year more than $5 million dollars was made available for our Office of Minority Health, the BASUAH campaign and the newly created African American HIV/AIDS Response Act for culturally sensitive targeted prevention efforts.
As in any legislative session, program priorities and budget targets are negotiated and compromised. However, what has not been compromised by this Governor is his commitment to providing access to healthcare for all Illinois residents. This includes our fellow citizens living with HIV/AIDS.
Sincerely,
Eric E. Whitaker, M.D., M.P.H.
Director
Illinois Department of Public Health
NOTE: Letters may be edited for clarity, length or consistency.
