Activists stage surprise Lakeview protest

Photos by Gender JUST
Story by Matt Simonette

Prompted by allegations of harassment from some Lakeview business owners, a large group of activists, most of them GLBT youths, Wednesday staged a protest in the waiting room of a Lakeview chiropractor.

About 60 protestors, largely members of the organization Gender Justices United for Societal Transformation, arrived unannounced at Knecht Chiropractic, 3444 N. Halsted, on the afternoon of Sept. 1. The practice’s owner, Andrew Knecht, is president of Northalsted Business Alliance.  

The protest, according to Gender JUST co-founder Sam Finkelstein, came after Northalsted Business Alliance failed to respond to Gender JUST’s request for meetings to address tensions between local business owners and GLBT youths, many of whom say they are made to feel unwanted on the streets of Boystown.

“Our hope was to set up a series of trainings for the business owners,” said Finkelstein. Other organizations represented at the protest included National People’s Action and Sex Workers Outreach Project Chicago. 

Finkelstein said that Gender JUST had tried to contact Northalsted Business Alliance twice about the allegations and had received no response. Knecht said that he was unaware of the requests.

Finkelstein had made an appointment for chiropractic services in order to be let into the office, which requires that patients be buzzed in the front door. When the door was opened for him, he was followed in by numerous people who quickly filled the office’s small waiting area. Several other protestors spilled out onto the sidewalk.

The group began chanting, “When you are under attack, what do you do? Fight back.”

Knecht quickly came out and demanded to know what was happening.

A Gender JUST member said that the protest was because his organization had not responded to their requests for a meeting. Knecht, who had by this time called the police, replied, “I’ve never gotten an email about that.”

He said that he would be willing to meet with Gender JUST members, but added, “I feel like I’m being attacked here, and I understand that you feel like you have as well.”

After Knecht agreed to set up a meeting date, the group left the office and proceeded to the front of Center on Halsted for a short rally.

“Guess what? We got our fucking meeting,” said Gender JUST member Ahkia Daniels to cheers.

Relations between GLBT youth of color and some Lakeview merchants have been rocky for some time. Many youths said that they still are subject to intense scrutiny and harassment when they venture into Boystown.

GenderJUST member Benjamin Perry said that when he has gone into local stores, for example, he often has ended up being followed around by store personnel.

“The more I went up there, the worse it became,” Perry said. “They just don’t give you any breathing room.” 

Knecht later said that he had not heard of Gender JUST before and that the protest took him by surprise. He nevertheless added that “all lines of communication are open” when his organization meets with the youths.

“We are looking for the situation to be resolved. It’s not healthy,” he said.

Knecht said he hadn’t seen any of the harassment that protestors referenced, but added, “I do think the youth get noticed because they are sometimes loud and boisterous, even if they are not doing anything wrong.” 

“The neighborhood is not targeting the youth. We welcome the youth,” Knecht said.

Finkelstein said Gender JUST and Knecht were in the process of setting up a meeting to go over the issue.

“We are negotiating a date. From our vantage point it was a successful event,” Finkelstein said.

This past spring, Gender JUST staged protests demanding that Chicago Public Schools implement a grievance policy holding teachers and staff accountable for harassment of students. CPS agreed to do so in June. 

NOVEMBER ELECTION A BIG ONE FOR ILLINOIS LGBT

by Gary Barlow – September 2-8, 2010

The economy may be the big issue for most voters in this November’s general election, but in Illinois it also presents LGBT voters with arguably the most clearcut difference between Democratic and Republican party nominees for governor in Illinois history.

In addition to the governor’s race, other contests, especially for the U.S. Senate and state legislative seats, could impact a host of LGBT issues.

In the governor’s race, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who inherited a mess from disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is battling to overcome budget problems passed on to him by Blagojevich and an indecisive Legislature to win a full term as the state’s chief executive.

Polls indicate that that he’s facing a tough battle against Republican nominee Bill Brady, a state senator from Bloomington who’s compiled one of the most stridently anti-gay records in Springfield during his 15 years in the Legislature.

Brady has consistently voted against LGBT rights, leading efforts to restrict and repeal employment and housing protections for LGBTs and to prevent lesbian and gay couples from receiving any legal recognition, including marriage, civil unions and domestic partnership benefits.

In a harbinger of what a Brady administration could bring, just one week after barely winning the Republican primary race for governor in February, Brady filed a proposed constitutional amendment in the Senate that would outlaw any legal recognition in Illinois for gay and lesbian couples, including “uniting of persons of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other similar same sex relationship.”

Such an amendment would not only make it more difficult to ever pass a marriage equality or civil unions bill, it would also take away domestic partnership benefits currently enjoyed by gay and lesbian state employees and other employees throughout Illinois. It was the third time in his legislative career that Brady has tried to pass constitutional amendments denying legal recognition for gay and lesbian couples.

Brady also opposed the Illinois Human Rights Act, which bans employment, housing, credit and public accommodations discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race and other characteristics. Alternatively, he’s tried to pass loopholes that would weaken the law, including filing a bill in February to allow some organizations to ignore the act’s protections for LGBTs.

Michael McRaith, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance, looks on as Gov. Pat Quinn speaks. McRaith is one of three gay Cabinet appointees in the Quinn administration. Photo by Gary Barlow

In contrast, Quinn has long supported discrimination protections for LGBTs and has repeatedly pressed the Legislature to pass a civil unions bill. Privately, sources in Springfield say, he’s said that if the Legislature passes a marriage equality bill for gays and lesbians, he would sign it. The civil unions bill sponsored by state Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), however, is reportedly within a few votes of passage, and a victory by Quinn and the Democrats in November could help push it over the top.

In addition, three members of Quinn’s Cabinet – Michael McRaith, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance, Rocco Claps, director of the Illinois Department of Human Rights, and Brent Adams, director of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation – are openly gay, visibility for gays that would likely become a thing of the past under a Brady administration.

Two third-party candidates are also in the governor’s race. Green Party candidate Rich Whitney, a Carbondale civil rights attorney, ran a surprisingly strong campaign for governor against Blagojevich in 2006, garnering 10.4 percent of the vote. Whitney is a strong supporter of LGBT rights, including fully backing marriage equality.

Independent candidate Scott Lee Cohen is one of those only-in-Illinois candidates. A little-known pawnbroker with a load of cash to spend on TV ads, he narrowly won a crowded race for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in February, only to drop off the ticket a few days later when allegations of domestic abuse and involvement with a prostitute surfaced. Shortly after that, in a turnabout, he announced his independent campaign for governor. His website doesn’t address LGBT issues.

Polls show the U.S. Senate race for the seat formerly held by President Obama is neck and neck, and it’s another contest in which there are clearcut differences on LGBT issues. Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, currently the Illinois treasurer, has been an outspoken advocate of marriage equality for gays and lesbians and for repeal of the U.S. military’s policy banning openly gay and lesbian servicemembers. His Republican opponent, North Shore Cong. Mark Kirk, doesn’t support LGBTs on either of those issues. With close votes in the Senate a possibility on both questions, as well as on other LGBT equality issues such as banning employment discrimination and including foreign-born partners of American gays and lesbians in immigration reform, this race could be a difference-maker for the LGBT community.

In Congressional races, three of the community’s strongest advocates in Washington, U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago), Jan Schakowsky (D-Chicago) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago), are considered locks to win reelection. Other races could be close, though. U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Schaumburg), who’s been a reliable vote for LGBT equality, should defeat Tea Party Republican Joe Walsh in the 8th District, but Rep. Bill Foster (D-Batavia), another congressman who’s taken pro-LGBT stands, is in a close 14th District race with state Sen. Randy Hultgren (R-Wheaton).

In the contest to replace Kirk in the 10th District, Democrat Dan Seals and Republican Robert Dold are facing off in another tight race. Seals supports civil unions and would vote to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Dold, on the other hand, favors limited legal rights for lesbian and gay couples but also supports passage of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would ban marriage equality for gays and lesbians.

In the 11th District, Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Crete) is trying to fight off a strong challenge from Republican Adam Kinzinger, who opposes repeal of the military’s ban on gays and lesbians. Halvorson has been a solid vote for the LGBT community throughout her career.

LGBTs have a huge stake in state legislative races this year. Bills to allow civil unions and full marriage equality are pending in the Illinois House and Senate and every vote could be crucial on those issues. State Sen. Heather Steans (D-7th) is the sponsor of the marriage equality bill in the Senate and has been a strong advocate for LGBTs on other issues. She’s up against a Republican opponent, Edgewater businessman Adam Robinson, who’s broken ranks with most of his party to support marriage equality, a good idea in the heavily-LGBT district.

In House races, openly gay Rep. Greg Harris (D-13th) is running unopposed in November, as are several of the LGBT community’s strongest allies in the House, including Reps. Sara Feigenholtz (D-12th), Harry Osterman (D-14th) and Lou Lang (D-16th). The only lesbian in the Legislature, Rep. Deb Mell (D-40th), has a Republican opponent, Lisa Reed, but is expected to win reelection handily.

One staunch community ally, Rep. John Fritchey (D-11th), is giving up his seat to run for the Cook County Board of Commissioners but Democratic nominee Ann Williams should win the race for Fritchey’s seat Nov. 2. Like Fritchey, Williams has taken strong stands in support of LGBT equality, including backing marriage rights for gays and lesbians. Her Republican opponent, Scott Tucker, describes himself as a libertarian who believes government should stay out of social issues; interestingly, most of his website is in Latin.

Two races for the Cook County Board should get attention from LGBT voters; one is Fritchey’s effort to fill outgoing Comm. Forrest Claypool’s 12th District seat. Fritchey should be able to defeat Republican opponent Bill Miceli and has earned endorsements from Rep. Mike Quigley and Claypool. In the contest for Cook County board president, longtime Chicago Ald. Toni Preckwinkle is the Democratic nominee. She defeated current Board President Todd Stroger in the February primary and has pledged to bring efficiency and transparency to the county. As an alderman, she’s earned a reputation as a reformer and has also been a strong supporter of the LGBT community. She’s running against former Republican state Sen. Roger Keats, who has also made cleaning up county government his top campaign issue.

Another Cook County race that should attract LGBT voters is Forrest Claypool’s daring independent bid to defeat the Democratic nominee for Cook County Assessor, Joe Berrios. Claypool has been popular with LGBT voters during his tenure as a Cook County commissioner and has been a leading advocate for LGBT issues on the board. A lifelong Democrat, Claypool stunned the party when he decided after the Feb. 2 primary to run as an independent candidate against Berrios. Claypool says he made the decision because Berrios is “pay to play personified.”

Berrios is chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party and has been a commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review since 1988. There, Claypool charges, Berrios favors tax breaks for moneyed developers and lawyers at the expense of other Cook County residents. Claypool is considered to be a formidable challenger in a race that’s sure to generate major media attention as the Nov. 2 election draws closer.

For people who aren’t already registered to vote, there is still plenty of time to register, and it’s very easy. People can register downtown at 69 W. Washington at the Cook County Clerk’s office or at any of the clerk’s five suburban offices. To register by mail, go to cookcountyclerk.com and download the registration form. In Boystown, you can drop by the offices of Equality Illinois at 3318 N. Halsted St. Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m., to register. It only takes a few moments.

Martin Gapshis, 1946-2010

Martin Gapshis, a Chicago business owner and philanthropist who was as comfortable in a black tie as he was in gardening shoes, died of a heart attack on Monday. He was 63. 


Mr. Gapshis, also a founding board member of the Center on Halsted, would continue that work, even producing signs for President Barack Obama in earlier races. Full story click here.

EQUALITY ILLINOIS PUSHING FOR MORE VOTERS

Written by Gary Barlow

CHICAGO – The state’s largest LGBT advocacy group is pushing hard to make sure LGBTs in the state get registered to vote and then cast ballots in the November general election.

“From the top of the state to the bottom of the state, we are trying to get as many voters as we can,” Equality Illinois Director of Public Policy Rick Garcia said Aug. 28.

The first part of the effort is to register as many LGBT voters as possible.

-> Rick Garcia, of Equality Illinois. photo by Gary Barlow

“We’re doing voter registration not just in Chicago, but from Carbondale to the Quad Cities,” Garcia said. “We’ve had folks at Market Days and the (Chicago) Pride Festival, and also in Quad Cities, Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, Carbondale and Oak Park. And we go to Peoria in two weeks. We’ve got folks in Springfield who work the farmers markets there.”

Garcia said the organization is also giving people it registers the chance to vote early.

“The rules have changed on absentee ballots,” he said. “We register voters and then hand them an application for an absentee ballot. They can start voting as early as Oct. 5.”

Garcia said the group would likely rent vans, as it did in the February primary election, to help get people to the polls on Election Day.

“That worked out really well in the primary,” he said.

Garcia said a number of races on the Nov. 2 ballot, including the governor’s race and the contest for one of Illinois’ two U.S. Senate seats, figure to help shape the landscape for progress on LGBT equality in the next few years.

“This is a very important election,” Garcia said. “Equality Illinois is very cognizant of the fact that people need to be registered and they need to get out and vote.”

It’s imperative for people to follow up and cast ballots after getting registered, he said.

“It’s easy for people to complain and moan and criticize after the election,” Garcia said. “But it doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t get out and vote.”

People can register to vote Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Equality Illinois, 3318 N. Halsted. Call 773-477-7173 for more information on registering and voting in the Nov. 2 general election.

AIDS DENIALISTS DISPUTED AT ITT FORUM

Written by Gary Barlow

CHICAGO – Almost 26 years after the HIV virus was established as the cause of AIDS and some 15 years after drug treatments developed out of that discovery led to dramatic drops in AIDS mortality rates in the U.S., some people still propagate the belief that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS and that the drugs used to treat it should be avoided.

Those beliefs were aired at a panel discussion sponsored by Knowledge and Wisdom Productions at the Illinois Institute of Technology Aug. 28. The panel included two AIDS denialists, authors Britnee Burke and Keidi Obi Awadu, and two people who disputed their arguments, epidemiologist Yaa Simpson, of the Association of Clinical Trial Services, and author and activist Ida Byther-Smith. Less than 20 people attended the discussion.

The HIV virus is the most heavily researched virus in medical history. Photo courtesy NIH

“People falsely believe that AIDS is a disease while in fact today it is used as a self-defining complex of diseases, symptoms and definitions,” Awadu said.

Burke, who said she tested HIV-positive 17 years ago and has not taken anti-HIV medications, compared belief in AIDS to religious belief.

“My belief – HIV is a lie,” she said.

Those assertions and others were refuted by Byther-Smith and Simpson.

“We can see a correlation when people take (anti-HIV) medications,” Simpson said. “We see less deaths.”

Byther-Smith told her story, of how she learned she was HIV-positive after being unknowingly infected by her then-husband. After it developed into AIDS, she was rushed to a hospital emergency room, where medical personnel did not expect her to live.

“I heard the nurse when I came in say, ‘She came in through the emergency room, but she’ll go out through the morgue,’” Byther-Smith said. “I was given up for dead.”

But the antiretroviral drugs dismissed as dangerous and misguided by Awadu and Burke saved her life, Byther-Smith said.

“So here I am. I’m living,” she said, detailing the AIDS medications she’s taken since then. “For the last 10 years my viral load has been undetectable.”

Byther-Smith refuted another statement by Awadu, that anal sex causes the illnesses associated with AIDS.

“Sperm was not intended to go into the anus,” Awadu said.

But Byther-Smith, describing herself as “a Christian woman,” said she was infected not by anal sex but by a husband who later admitted that he was infected through affairs he hadn’t disclosed to her.

“Everybody who has this disease is not gay and everybody who has this disease is not having anal sex,” she said. “I know this to be true.”

Simpson displayed graphs showing AIDS prevalence, incidence and mortality rates in Chicago, saying the overwhelming statistics collected and studied here and around the world refute the “AIDS conspiracy” arguments of denialists such as Awadu and Burke.

“This cannot all be lies,” Simpson said.

AIDS denialists have been around since the earliest days of the epidemic. But once effective therapies targeting the HIV virus made it possible for people living with AIDS to live normal lives – in countries where use of those drugs is widespread – prominent scientific critics refuted their earlier denials and questions and acknowledged that HIV is the common factor in AIDS.

One prominent HIV/AIDS doctor, Joseph Sonnabend, was at one time a skeptic of HIV’s role in the disease, but after seeing the effect of antiretroviral drugs engineered specifically to combat HIV, he refuted that stance.

“Some individuals who believe that HIV plays no role at all in AIDS have implied that I support their misguided views on AIDS causation by including inappropriate references to me in their literature and on their web sites,” Sonnabend has written. “I have successfully treated hundreds of AIDS patients with antiretroviral medications, and have no doubt that HIV plays a necessary role in this disease.”

Another denialist often cited by Awadu and others, molecular and cell biologist Peter Duesberg, has been heavily criticized by his peers – as long ago as 1993, the then-editor of Science, refusing Duesberg’s repeated demands to publish articles critical of the settled acceptance that HIV causes AIDS, dismissed Duesberg’s theories.

“He forfeited the right to expect answers by his rhetorical technique,” John Maddox wrote. “Evidence that contradicts his alternative drug hypothesis is...brushed aside.”

At the panel discussion, Chicago Pastor Roger Ford, who is HIV-positive, strongly criticized the effort by Awadu, Burke and others to dissuade people from getting tested for HIV and to avoid HIV medications when they’re appropriate.

“It concerns me today that we speak that there’s no such thing as this disease,” Ford said. “We’re not becoming educated. We’re telling things that are not true. Young people are dying... Don’t tell a person not to go be tested.”

JUDGE SIDES WITH THAYER IN PRIDE CITATION CASE

Written by Gary Barlow

CHICAGO – Andy Thayer won his case Aug. 11 against a citation issued to him by Chicago police for the Gay Liberation Network’s counter-protest against anti-gay protesters at the Chicago Pride Parade June 27.

“Citing a violation...is not applicable in this case,” Administrative Law Judge Zipporah Lewis ruled at the end of a hearing that lasted more than two hours.

The anti-gay protesters mar the end of the Pride Parade each year, standing at the corner of Diversey and Pine Grove in an area designated for them by the police. Many of them hold signs bearing demeaning and insulting comments about LGBTs.

Thayer said GLN had an agreement with the Chicago Police Department allowing them to stop in front of the anti-gay contingent so long as GLN members didn’t block the parade route. But when GLN stopped there, with their 10-foot high banner on wheels in front of the anti-gay demonstrators, police and parade marshals ordered them to move the banner, then issued Thayer a citation when they didn’t.

In court, the City alleged that Thayer had violated the law by “erecting a scaffolding” without a permit for that purpose. While the banner was on a scaffolding-type structure, it was on wheels, had been rolled the entire length of the parade by GLN members at that point and also carried GLN’s amplified speaker system. Its dimensions, Thayer said, were 10 feet high, 14 feet wide and four feet deep.

But police at the scene, under the direction of Dep. Chief Bruce Rottner, didn’t cite Thayer for “erecting a scaffolding.” Instead, after consultation with an officer from the CPD’s law department, they cited him for “failing to obey a lawful order” by a police officer.

Lewis agreed with Thayer’s attorney, Jeffrey Frank, who argued that the violation was illegal because the City statute the citation referenced is part of a section of City code that deals with traffic rules. Traffic rules aren’t enforced against participating groups during a legally permitted parade, Frank argued.

“This ticket was issued without any basis,” Frank said. “They could only come up with a specious and arbitrary charge.”

A few days before the parade, the City acknowledged, CPD Commander Frank Gross contacted Thayer after meeting with Pride organizers. At that meeting, Gross testified, concerns were raised about avoiding a repeat of GLN’s encounter with the anti-gay protesters in the 2009 Pride Parade, when GLN members blocked the parade for some time by stopping for a counter-protest.

“They said they didn’t want this to happen again,” Gross said.

Gross said he called Thayer after that meeting to try to work out an agreement with GLN that would allow them to pull their “float” over to the side of the street and counter-protest the anti-gay group while allowing the rest of the parade to go by.

“Basically, Andy agreed to it and said he would pull over to the side and protest the counter-protesters and let the parade continue,” Gross testified. “I assumed it would be a float.”

Thayer cited that agreement when police at the scene told GLN they couldn’t stop with the banner in front of the anti-gay group.

At the hearing, police consistently over-estimated the height of the banner, characterizing it as “two stories high” at one point and “20-30 feet high” at another. Looking at photographs entered as evidence, Gross said, “It looks narrower than a truck.” Frank noted that would have made it less obstructive than a float.

“He (Thayer) was in compliance with an order of Commander Gross,” Frank told the judge.

The City argued that the rolling banner was “an edifice,” a “scaffolding” and a safety hazard. But police didn’t cite Thayer for any violations along those lines, instead giving him a ticket for violating part of a traffic ordinance. Applying the ordinance during a parade, Frank said, would mean that floats could be cited for crossing the center line of the street.

Lewis agreed, saying the ordinance “cannot be looked at in a vacuum.”

Thayer could have been fined up to $1,000 if the citation had been upheld.

Parade Coordinator Richard Pfeiffer said the anti-gay group, led by self-proclaimed preacher Ruben Israel, travels from San Diego to Chicago and other cities to protest at Pride parades.

“When they started 10 years ago, we said there were going to be real problems, but (City officials) said they have the right to be there,” Pfeiffer said.

Pfeiffer said the City explained that the anti-gay group cannot be in the street during the parade but has a right to protest on the sidewalk.

“The way the police said it was that they were going to give them a spot rather than have them pop up anywhere,” Pfeiffer said.

Chicago City Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said the City has no choice but to allow the anti-gay protesters to exercise their First Amendment rights.

“We can’t prohibit them from protesting,” Hoyle said. “We do have to accommodate their desire to be in reasonable range of whatever they’re protesting.”

Hoyle said what constitutes “reasonable range” has been the subject of discussions about the Pride Parade and other events, such as the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

“There’s not a specific distance,” she said.

Angry gay shoppers protest at new Uptown Target

by Gary Barlow

CHICAGO – LGBTs angered by Target Corporation's $150,000 of support for a strident anti-gay candidate for governor in the company's home state of Minnesota picketed and protested at the retail chain's new Uptown store Aug. 14.

“They should be aware of the money that we spend at their stores,” said Rick Heintz, one of the protest organizers. “And we don't want to see our money spent that way.”

A lot of LGBT people around the country apparently feel the same way. Since news came out last month of Target's donation of $100,000 in cash and $50,000 in in-kind services to MN Forward, tens of thousands of people have signed on in support of a boycott of the retail giant. MN Forward, a political action committee, has used the money to buy TV ads in support of Tom Emmer, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota who, as a state representative, has been a staunch opponent of LGBT rights and has praised and appeared with a Christian rock band whose frontman said that Muslims who advocate killing gays are “more moral than American Christians.”

Electronics chain Best Buy has also come under fire for donating $100,000 to MN Forward, but it is Target's donations that have galvanized LGBT anger the most.

“Do not shop at Best Buy and do not shop at Target,” said protester Kelly Sheridan. “I will not be shopping at any of these places until the money is returned.”

One of the organizers of the protest, Zachary Fraum, 16, said he just came out publicly last week.

“I think we all know that what Target has done is wrong,” Fraum said. “We all agree on how badly they've wronged us. It would be wrong not to protest.”

The political donations were made possible by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in January that freed corporations to spend unlimited funds to influence elections, and Target first reacted to the LGBT backlash by stating that the company supported Emmer for his business-related stances, without regard to his position on social issues. That only fanned the flames on the issue, and Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel subsequently apologized to employees of the company Aug. 5 but the wording of his apology did little to mollify LGBT outrage at the contributions.

“I realize our decision affected many of you in a way I did not anticipate, and for that I am genuinely sorry,” Steinhafel's letter to employees stated.

“Steinhafel needs to issue an apology to the entire LGBT community,” said Bob Schwartz, of the Gay Liberation Network, which helped stage the protest in Uptown.

Beyond that, protesters said, the company needs to do far more to repair the damage.

“The (Target) PR department gives us that sloppy-ass excuse, just the same drivel we've heard a thousand times before,” David Mansfield said.

While Target is reportedly negotiating to donate an equal amount to the Human Rights Campaign, the protesters in Uptown, as well as many others around the country, want the company to request that MN Forward return its donation and donate funds directly to groups in Minnesota to use to elect candidates who support full equality for LGBTs.

“We've had our experience with 'Gay, Inc.' types of organizations,” said GLN's Andy Thayer. “At a bare minimum, they (Target) have to demand that money back and then donate it to a Minnesota gay organization.”

Target has had a good rating in HRC's corporate equality index, largely due to its domestic partnership policies for LGBT employees and its past support of Minneapolis Pride and LGBT groups such as PFLAG. But in an Aug. 9 article in The Awl, based in New York, journalist Abe Sauer noted that after the company changed hands in 2000 and Steinhafel took over, Target's donations to groups such as Planned Parenthood ceased. Since then, Sauer wrote, Target executives have made numerous and substantial contributions to right-wing, anti-LGBT candidates. One of the three top Target executives who make decisions on Target's political contributions, Vice President of Government Affairs Matt Zabel, formerly worked for U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who sponsored a constitutional amendment to ban marriage for gays and lesbians, supported a bill to ban adoptions by gay and lesbian parents in the District of Columbia and received a 0-percent rating on LGBT issues from HRC.

Thayer and other protesters noted that their fight was not with employees of Target but with its corporate bosses. The manager of the new Target, Sunda Obendorf, said she hopes LGBT shoppers in Chicago keep that in mind.

“Obviously we're pretty close to the LGBT community here in Uptown,” Obendorf said. “Somewhere between 15-20 percent of our team are members of the community. What happened in Minnesota is not indicative of our store and the make-up of our store's team. ...The reason I came here is because of our diversity stance. I think that's one of the beautiful things about our company.”

Osterman moves toward 48th Ward run

EXCLUSIVE by Gary Barlow

CHICAGO – Ill. state Rep. Harry Osterman (D-Chicago) said Aug. 16 that he is leaning strongly toward running for the 48th Ward City Council seat being vacated by retiring Ald. Mary Ann Smith, who's held the seat since 1989.

“I've been talking to people about the issues facing the ward and getting a lot of feedback that's been very positive,” Osterman said.

Osterman's mother held the Edgewater-based seat before Smith and there's been a great deal of speculation about an Osterman candidacy in the February 2011 city election since Smith announced her plans to retire at the end of her term.

Osterman has represented the 14th District in the Illinois House since 2000 and has earned a reputation as a consensus builder and hands-on legislator who pays close attention to constituent services and concerns.

While he's not ready to make a formal announcement about his intentions, Osterman made it clear that he's preparing for a City Council run.

“I've been putting together a campaign organization and talking to volunteers,” Osterman said. “I've reached out to a lot of people, especially to the LGBT community in the ward, and the feedback has been very good.”

Osterman said he expects to make a formal announcement “in the very near future, sooner rather than later.”