NASIM GETS ACGLI BACKING
At the urging of the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network, the mayor's Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues has agreed to act on behalf of author Ifti Nasim, who was attacked in mid-March in what activists maintain was a hate-motivated crime. At its last meeting April 18, ACGLI approved three motions related to the attack on Nasim.
Under the first, ACGLI Director Bill Greaves agreed to try to set up a meeting with Nasim and Vernita Gray, GLBT liaison for the state's attorney's office, to discuss the course of the case. The second calls for Greaves to contact the police department and "encourage them to treat immigrant issues with sensitivity," while the third directs Greaves to issue a letter to the state's attorney's office urging that the case is "aggressively investigated as a hate crime," Greaves said.
CABN and Nasim attended the meeting, bringing with them two resolutions about the case that they wanted ACGLI to adopt. The Council declined those, but did agree to some of the terms of them, including contacting the state's attorneys' office about hate-crime charges.
"I think we did what we could do given the information that we had," said Bill Greaves, director of ACGLI and the mayor's liaison to the GLBT community. "We made sure that Ifti's needs were met."
In a release, CABN said, "While the resolution that passed is not everything Nasim and CABN wanted, we take it as evidence of progress and are encouraged that Council members such as Gerardo Montemayor indicated they wanted to follow Nasim's wishes."
Nasim was allegedly threatened and verbally assaulted at a North Side restaurant on March 12 by a man who said he was going to stab Nasim in the butt for being gay. The court date for his case is set for May 1.
Safety patrol on lookout for bashers
The Halsted Safety Patrol is seeking information about an incident last Tuesday evening, April 17, during during which several young men yelled "faggot" at a pedestrian. The men, estimated to be in their late teens or early 20s, were riding southbound through the intersection of Halsted and Cornelia in a black compact car—possibly a BMW—with the license plate J 971 963. There was some uncertainty on the 7 and the 1 in the plate number.
Call ( 773 ) 871-CARE.
PASSAGES
Chicago lesbians were shocked to learn earlier this week of the sudden passing of Brenda Goldstein of Vega Travel. Brenda could always be counted on for a friendly smile and a great deal on travel discounts. Buriel was at Shalom Park in Arlington Heights Tuesday.
Elena Del Rubio of the famous triplets performing group Del Rubios, has passed away. They had performed at Berlin in Chicago, and hundreds of other venues throughout their decades-long career, and the only remaining sister is Milly. the Three sisters never married and spent their entire lives together. Milly can be reached at: 2275 West 25th Street, Box 30, San Pedro, CA 90732
Lambda leader to speak in Iowa
The Midwest regional director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund will speak on gay topics in several Iowa cities next month.
Matthew W. Roberts will give his interactive talk, Isn't That Against the Law?, in Des Moines at the Gay and Lesbian Resource Center of Central Iowa, at the Iowa City Public Library and at the Cedar Rapids Public Library.
Series on civil unions wins Pulitzer
A series of editorials on civil unions has won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing, Reuters reports.
It was the first Pulitzer for David Moats of Vermont's Rutland Herald ( circulation 22,000 ) , and the first Pulitzer for any publication in the state of Vermont.
To view Moats' winning works, visit www.rutlandherald.com/pulitzer/ . For a full list of all of the Pulitzer winners, visit www.pulitzer.org .
