THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

'When government sets up an institution, it should be equally accessible to all.'

-- Camilla Taylor

Judging by the speakers and the reactions in the audience at Chicago's Town Hall Meeting on Same-Sex Marriage Jan. 15, there was a general understanding that while many in the LGBT community may not personally desire marriage, the right to marriage for same-sex couples is critical.

During the forum, the struggle for same-sex marriage was framed as a struggle for civil rights. Also noted was the potential for same-sex relationships to serve as models and guides for heterosexuals searching for meaning in a disintegrating institution approaching moral bankruptcy.

The discussion featured guest speakers Camilla Taylor ( staff attorney, Lambda Legal Defense ) , Rev. Karen Hutt ( co-pastor, Church of the Open Door ) , Rick Garcia ( political director, Equality Illinois ) , Andy Thayer ( co-founder, Chicago Anti-Bashing Network; national rally coordinator, DontAmend.com ) , Robert Castillo ( Advocacy Committee, Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues ) , and was moderated by John Pennycuff ( Advocacy Committee, Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues ) .

Camilla Taylor discussed the role of Lambda in the quickly changing landscape of LGBT rights.

'In January 2003, you could still be thrown into jail for spending a night ... a private evening ... with your loved in your own bedroom,' she said. 'Two of our clients, John Lawrence and Tyron Garner were thrown into jail in 1998 simply for having an evening together in the bedroom of their own home having sex. Thirteen states still criminalized gay sex last year. Also, of course, there was no state in this country ... in North America, that affirmed the right of gays and lesbians to marry. So a lot has changed.

'And one of the first things that changed was, in June of this past year, I celebrated with many of you as the Supreme Court overruled the infamous case Bowers vs, Hardwick. And that was a tremendous victory because, not only did it overturn all the bans on consensual sodomy that existed up until then, but it also marked the first time that the Supreme Court stated explicitly ... that morality can never again be used as a justifications for discrimination against gays and lesbians,' Taylor said.

'And of course we learned later on in the summer that two provinces in Canada had affirmed the equal right to marry of gays and lesbians and a lot of North Americans ... well, a lot of United States couples, for that matter ... went across the border to Canada and got married.

'And then of course in November, Nov. 18, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court gave us an amazing victory. This decision is huge. It affirms the equal rights of gays and lesbians to marry under the Massachusetts state constitution. And while the court gave the legislature 180 days to enact whatever legislation might be necessary to make this happen, we firmly believe that the court did not permit the legislature to do anything other than grant marriage licenses,' she said.

Recently Lambda filed an amicus brief ( along with U.S. Rep. John Lewis and the ACLU ) responding to the Massachusetts State Senate's request for an opinion from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court regarding whether civil unions satisfy the Court's original ruling.

'In this brief we stated that civil unions would be separate but unequal and would not be sufficient to satisfy the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's judgement. We pointed out that when you create a separate institution for a group of people and you do not permit them to enter the institution that exists for everyone else ... that without justification you say, 'this is for you: a different institution that has all the equal rights, benefits, responsibilities' ... it sounds a bit familiar and it is also inherently unequal.'

Taylor described the legal quagmire that many same-sex couples recognized by civil unions or marriages currently face—discrimination if they report their marriage or union, legal punishment if they do not report their status. Taylor urged the audience to contact Lambda if they experience such treatment, but strongly discouraged those desiring to be married out-of-state just to test the efficacy of same-sex marriages or civil unions from following through with their plans.

Rev. Karen Hutt used her experiences as the co-pastor of a gay church in an ethnically and racially diverse section of Chicago to illustrate how the LGBT community fits into a larger demographic. Similar to other marginalized communities, same-sex couples offer 'mainstream' America a positive redefinition of 'family' and 'marriage.' Rev. Hutt discussed the experience of marrying an undocumented, Latino, heterosexual couple expecting a baby. After having been rejected from all other churches as a result of the woman's pregnancy and the couple's undocumented status, they came to the Church of the Open Door to be married. After this experience, Rev. Hutt no longer describes the Open Door as a gay church, but rather as a church for the undocumented, for all of those currently rendered legally invisible by politicians.

'These people, too, are undocumented,' she said, 'like we are in our relationships, not having papers, not being able to say who we are and to get the benefits that that implies. ... Many other people are suffering from this problem in a society that does not want to visualize the reconfiguration, the changing visualization of what a family is.'

Rick Garcia focused on the importance of linking same-sex marriage to a struggle for the most basic civil rights. Marriage is at the heart of community—it is at the foundation of family, family at the foundation of society. With all of the blind spots in the Right's moral message, Garcia explained the right wing's recent blitzkrieg on same-sex marriage as largely a tactical maneuver. Seventy-one percent of rural southern Illinois supports LGBT equal access to housing and employment, but only 33 percent of rural southern Illinois supports same-sex marriage. Right now, same-sex marriage is the only major anti-LGBT issue that the Right can win. That is why it is so important, Garcia explained, for the LGBT community to link the struggle for same-sex marriage with the struggle for civil rights in their activism.

'We are reintroducing the GLBT Civil Rights Bill in the Illinois Senate this week or maybe next week. Sen Carol Ronen is the sponsor of it. We need 30 votes in the Illinois Senate, we have 26. We need 60 in the Illinois House, we have 56,' Garcia said.

'What these legislators, what these right-wing fanatics don't understand is, that today's American families come in a variety of shapes of sizes and families have always been composed of a variety of shapes and sizes. ... This phenomena of same-sex couples and families and family values is not new. It is not something we're creating or that we are ( using to ) try to create a social upheaval. All we are asking for and demanding is the same recognition that any other human being in our society has. One set of rules, one yardstick for all of us.'

He spoke of the backlash that could be expected, and concluded by saying that we were lucky that to date no anti-same-sex-marriage bill had been introduced to the legislature. He said that he anticipated one. The next day, Friday, Jan. 16, 2004, his prediction came true.

Andy Thayer built on Garcia's argument, linking marriage rights to civil rights in general. While he personally has no desire to be married, he understands that to accept anything less from the government is to accept second-class citizenry. Bashing occurs largely because bigots believe LGBT's to be second-class citizens.

Thayer emphasized that same-sex marriage is a survival issue, particularly for low-income LGBT's who rely more on a spouse's benefits and lack the financial resources to retain attorneys to fight for their civil rights. He explained that the Right's assault on same-sex marriage is part of a larger campaign against contraception rights, abortion rights, etc. The LGBT community is also the whipping boy for the Right's failed economic, domestic, and international policies, he said. Thayer stressed the importance of grassroots activism in the LGBT community—noting that Brown v. Board of Education alone did not desegregate the schools—and made an announcement for the upcoming civil-rights rally to be held outside the residence of Cardinal Francis George.

Anti-gay legislation 'has been around for years,' Thayer said. 'But unlike in the past, it is a real threat right now. I'm no constitutional attorney but my civics class tells me that two thirds of both houses of congress and three quarters of the states are what is necessary in order to pass a constitutional amendment. It turns out that more than two thirds of our currently sitting legislators passed the Federal Defense of Marriage Act under the Clinton administration and almost three quarters of the states passed their local Defense of Marriage Acts, including here in Illinois. So let's not fool ourselves, most of the same legislators are still there and when push comes to shove and when the right wing goes on a bandwagon and says 'Do you favor equal rights for homosexuals, do you favor gay marriage?' They are going to catch fright ... and that is where we have to mobilize. We at CABN firmly believe that civil rights have always been won by organizing on the street. They are never handed to us on high. It is well past time our community started getting out and mobilizing rallies, sit-ins, whatever are necessary to get us equal rights,' Thayer said.

Robert Castillo urged those in the LGBT community who may have other activist priorities to lend more time and energy to the struggle for same-sex marriage, noting like Thayer that this is not a fight over a single issue, but rather a great and necessary resistance to a sweeping, anti-gay right-wing agenda. For those active in the struggle for the right to same-sex marriage, Castillo urged them to educate and engage allies and enemies alike, to enlist others, and to expand the scope of their projects.

'I know that same-sex marriage is not the goal of everyone in this community,' he said. For some in this audience in light of increases in the prices of HIV medications by 500%, 'same-sex marriage may not be what you are thinking about. Or, if you are a young person who has just come out and has just been thrown out of the house, you may not be thinking about it. Or if you are a homeless LGBT who is looking for a warm place to stay for the evening, you may not care about your right to get married.' He spoke of times when his own goals were elsewhere, but explained his philosophy that activists fight for others and for goals beyond their own time and place.

Following their opening addresses, the guest speakers fielded questions from the audience.

One audience member asked if the direct action advocated by Thayer and Castillo was wise during an election year, possibly resulting in the loss of sympathetic politicians.

Beyond not seeing a problem with direct action, saying, 'It is important that all know their role in the struggle and play it to the hilt,' Garcia noted that direct action gives him political leverage in Springfield. Thayer stressed that early activism makes an issue safe for politicians. Taylor confirmed that activism plays a huge role in determining which cases Lambda takes. Rev. Hutt analogized the relationship between LGBT grassroots activists and lobbyists to the relationship between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, two men who understood their roles in the Movement and played off of one another for the good of the Movement.

On another point, an audience member urged the LGBT community to continue to expose to the general public Cardinal Francis George's bigoted views, highlighting their similarity to those of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, or Fred Phelps.

Garcia, a practicing Catholic but by no means a supporter of George or the Church establishment, elaborated that in the sense that Cardinal George masks his bigotry with flowery and pious-sounding language ( language that is then trumpeted by the handful of Democratic State Senators with ties to the Church who oppose LGBT civil-rights legislation ) , Cardinal George is 'worse than Fred Phelps, who is at least honest about his bigotry.' Garcia said that because Cardinal George housed and protected a pedophile priest and denies the most basic human rights to members of the LGBT community while at the same time claiming to 'love the sinner ( just not the sin ) ,' he has no moral authority.

Another audience member wondered why the LGBT community should bother salvaging such a capitalist, sexist institution as marriage.

Castillo responded that people should have the right to determine the form of their own relations, adding that domestic partnerships should also be open to heterosexuals.

Rev. Hutt saw how the struggle for same-sex marriage brings to the fore the myth of the mainstream gay. Contrary to the messages gleaned from current television shows, Hutt emphasizes that the LGBT community is NOT just like the heterosexual community. Members of the LGBT community are not going to have the same types of dysfunctional marriages as 50 percent of the heterosexual community. Instead, same-sex marriage offers the heterosexual community new ways to conceptualize marriage.

For these reasons, Andy Thayer urged communities to begin planning a powerful, organized response to Bush's upcoming State of the Union Address, which, according to early reports, will come out strongly for a Defense of Marriage Amendment.

An audience member was concerned that this Amendment would adversely affect the legal status of her marriage to her post-op transsexual husband.

A young man in the audience argued that if the Right were as committed to family values and morality as it professes to be, it would be condemning Blind Date, Joe Millionaire, and Britney Spears as vehemently as it does same-sex relationships.

Castillo agreed and pointed to further contradictions in the Right's position, including its having voiced no objection to the marriages of infertile heterosexual couples, despite having grounded its definition of marriage on the ability to procreate. Further, Castillo noted that the Right completely neglects love in their moral directives. He urged the LGBT community to seize the opportunity to reintroduce love into the debate.

Finally, a member of the audience wanted to know where, if the definition of marriage were expanded to include same-sex partnerships, the line should be drawn between legally acceptable and unacceptable familial groupings.

Rev. Hutt responded that such things one often hears about same-sex marriage legitimizing polygamy and polyamory diverts attention from the core issue—the denial of basic civil rights. If, however, one felt inclined to address the audience member's concern, Hutt suggested that one need look no further than the Old Testament for confirmation that most relationships are anything but 'mainstream.'