Twenty-ninth District state Rep. Christian Mitchell, D-Chicago, visited Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted St., Feb. 13 for a fundraiser for his March 18 primary campaign.
Mitchell is up against community organizer Jhatayn "Jay" Travis in an especially difficult race. Travis has been endorsed by Chicago Teachers Union and AFSCME, among others, and has reached out to activists and community members who disagreed with Mitchell's vote in favor of pension reform in December.
But Mitchell said that his campaign has reached out to nearly 40,000 constituents as well and that he's prepared for a tough fight and stands by his voting record. "This is a race we're taking seriously."
In his speech that evening, Mitchell said that marriage equality "has made us a better, fairer state, but it's not the end of the fight … We still need to make sure we end discrimination against LGBT folks in the workplace. We still need to make sure that LGBT you on the South Side of Chicago feel comfortable and safe feel safe walking down the street being he or she is. We still have work to do to make sure that all our allies have access to safe, affordable housing and can get a job with out feeling that they're going to be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or their gender non-conformity."
"Equality is not just about somebody you marry or who you love," he added. "It's about making sure we are economically equal and socially equal, no matter what releigion or race you are."
Mitchell was introduced by state Reps. Greg Harris and Sara Feigenholtz, as well as Rep. Mike Quigley.