When Joanne Trapani is sworn in as Oak Park Village President April 9, she will not only maintain her status as the only openly lesbian elected official in the state, she'll make history as Illinois' first lesbian village president.
"I am the next president—chad notwithstanding," said Trapani, a current village trustee who is unopposed in the Tuesday, April 3, election.
She was slated by the Village Manager Association ( VMA ) , Oak Park's oldest and most established political party, last December.
Trapani, who has lived in Oak Park for 20 years, has wide-ranging plans for her four-year presidency.
"We need to maintain the fiscal health of the village," she said, noting that there hasn't been a tax increase in two years and that the village's bond rating is "excellent."
Other priorities include continued funding for the capital improvement program, efforts to work cooperatively with surrounding communities and encouraging public/private partnerships.
"We are not, nor should we be, one-issue people," she said of gays and lesbians. "We are not a homogenous group. We have different interests, and we should participate in all parts of community life."
Oak Park, a village of about 53,000 residents, has earned a reputation as one of the state's most welcoming places for gays and lesbians, and Trapani urged members of Oak Park's sizable GLBT community to go out and vote.
"Where there's local consolidated elections, they have to vote," she said.
According to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, Trapani joins a small but growing group of high-ranking municipal openly gay or lesbian officials.
"While exact numbers are still being compiled, Trapani would be one of only a handful of openly gay or lesbian mayors or village presidents in the country," said Sloan Wiesen of the Victory Fund.
Hate-crimes bill passes House,
heads to Senate
The Illinois House has passed, 96-10, a bill that would create tougher penalties for hate crimes.
House Bill 136 was drafted by Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine's office. It would amend the Illinois Hate Crimes Act to: create the offense of conspiracy against civil rights; to make clear that hate-crime charges can be brought if hate is just one of many motivating factors in a crime; to increase penalties for hate crimes committed near religious institutions, cemeteries, schools, parks or community centers; to create mandatory fines and community service and to increase penalties for repeat offenders.
The bill's chief aim is to allow charges to be brought against the leaders of hate groups whose followers commit violence motivated by the victim's race, religion or sexual orientation.
The bill's sponsor was Rep. Jeff Schoenberg, D-Evanston, whose district was the site of white supremacist Benjamin Smith's deadly shooting spree in 1999. A Senate version of the bill, sponsored by Sen. Ira Silverstein, is awaiting a vote.
Several hundred to attend
Lobby Day in Springfield
Several hundred people are expected for Equality Illinois' Lobby Day in Springfield Wednesday, March 28.
Participants will urge lawmakers to vote for measures that would add sexual orientation to the state's Human Rights Act.
Vote on the House version of the legislation, HB 101, was postponed last week because several key "yes" votes were absent. The bill would prohibit anti-gay discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. Activists have been consistently confident that the bill will pass this year after an unsuccessful run in 1999.
"We are closer than ever to making discrimination against gays illegal in Illinois," said EI Political Director Rick Garcia. "This will be our largest lobby day ever."
The day will include a rally in the Capitol rotunda and a reception with the 30-plus co-sponsors of HB 101.
EI will send five busloads of supporters from the North and South sides to the Capitol. The Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays has organized a bus to leave from Bolingbrook, and groups are also scheduled to leave from Bloomington, Peoria, Decatur, Carbondale, Naperville, Champaign and Urbana.
In other Capitol news, the Women's Bar Association PAC, Chicago NOW and Planned Parenthood are sponsoring a bus to Springfield April 4 for Pro-Choice Lobby Day. The bus will leave at 7 a.m. from 200 N. Michigan, Ste. 400, and will return by 8:30 p.m. Lobbying instructions will be given on the bus, and participants should find out who their state representative and state senator are before the trip.
Contact Michele Dewlen at mdewlen@yahoo.com .
ERA reintroduced in Illinois
The Equal Rights Amendment has been reintroduced in Illinois, the American Association of University Women has announced. The fight to get the ERA added to the U.S. Constitution has gone on for decades, though activity winded down after it fell three states short of the 38 needed for ratification in the 1980s.
The heart of the ERA says, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."
A coalition of organizations has renewed a push for passage, hoping that a recent Supreme Court ruling would allow for ratification after the three last needed votes are captured. Illinois is one of four states—along with Missouri, Mississippi and Virginia—that have amendments pending. The Illinois amendment was sponsored Lou Lang, D-Skokie.
See www.equalrightsamendment.org/era.htm.
BRIEFLY ...
The University of Illinois-Chicago Office of GLBT Concerns hosts Who Wants To Be A Queer Millionaire? Sunday, April 1. Cost is $35, 7-9 p.m., Bailiwick Arts Center, 1229 W. Belmont, ( 312 ) 413-8619.
The Chicago Bar Assoc. Lesbian and Gay Rights Committee and the Young Lawyers Section of the Bar Assoc. co-host Estate Planning for the Non-Traditional Family, Friday, March 30, a seminar open to all. Call ( 312 ) 554-2056
Chicago Black Lesbians and Gays hosts a Community Forum: What the Bush Administration Means for the LGBT Community Sat., March 31. Starts 10 a.m., Ann Sather's, 929 W. Belmont, ( 312 ) 409-4917 or chicago_black_lesbians_gays@hotmail.com
There's a Take Back The Night rally, speak out about violence against women, Thursday, April 5 at University of Illinois-Chicago, 5-7 p.m., University of Illinois-Chicago's Circle Center, 750 S. Halsted. ( 312 ) 413-1025 or www.uic.edu/depts/owa
Northwestern University's features the NEA Four Plus Ten: a series of interviews and performance from three of the four artists deemed obscene by the Nat'l Endowment for the Arts 10 years ago. April 6, Holly Hughes performs her latest work, Preaching to the Perverted. 8 p.m., $4-$10. Northwestern's Block Museum of Art, 1967 S. Campus, Evanston. ( 847 ) 491-4000. April 14, Tim Miller participates in an interactive public interview.
The GLSEN Scholarship Night is Tuesday, April 10, 6:30-10 p.m. at the Sulzer Library, 4455 N. Lincoln. The evening will include the presentation of the GLSEN Chicago Pathfinder Award to Pride Youth Speakers Bureau, and the awarding of other scholarships, including those from Amigas Latinas, Affinity, the Barajas-Reese Fund, CPNA, Exelon/ComEd, and FUEL. GLSEN awards two scholarships of its own as well, and TNT Pride ( gay bankers ) gives special gifts. See the website www.glsenchicagoland.com, or call ( 773 ) 769-9009.
Friday, April 6, celebrate the 52nd birthday of renowned Chicago choreographer and dancer, Joel Hall. DJ Lamont spins at the event, which will be at E2, 2347 S. Michigan Ave. Joel himself is an inductee into Chicago's Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. VIP Tickets are $25 per person and include the VIP Champagne Toast and Birthday Cake from 10 p.m.-10:30 p.m. plus a night of dancing until 4 a.m. Regular admission begins at 10:30, when doors open and tickets are $15 each and can be purchased at the door the night of the event. 100% of the door proceeds will benefit the Joel Hall Dancers. Call ( 773 ) 293-0900 or stop by at 1511 W. Berwyn Avenue in Chicago; www.joelhall.org .
