Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association
Since its inception in 1989, OPALGA has become one of the largest community based, multipurpose lesbian and gay membership organizations in Illinois.
Our New Day
While it is not yet clear what President-elect Barack Obama’s move will be on equal marriage and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” there is no doubt that the change many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have been working on for so long was born in Grant Park on November 4, 2008.
After spending a couple of hours volunteering at the Obama campaign office at Clark and Lake, wedged between a Brit and German making calls to Pennsylvania, I walked down Lake to Michigan and took a cab the rest of the way to the Congress Hotel. Everyone was happy. In the Loop. At rush hour. That by itself was a marvel, earning the comments of my very talkative Palestinian cab driver, an Obama supporter who’d lived here 30 years and thought at last this country might get it right, tonight.
After checking in to make sure my room had the right view, I headed to Michigan Avenue, where vendors were already hawking Obama-as-President merchandise and hopeful crowds were gathering. Four security gates were established, two each for ticket holders and those without tickets. The lines waiting to pass into the park grew, and people were quiet and playful. And mixed! What a diverse crowd, every age, color, and locale were present. Suburban families picnicked on the lawns, college students staked out the crowd, homeless guys were especially chilled out, and the elderly mingled easily with the business folk. After four hours of waiting, two lines snaked toward the north and south ends of the park toward giant TV screens tuned to CNN.
Along with many others, I roamed the streets outside of the security gates, drinking in the eerily buoyant atmosphere and waiting for election news alongside mounted police and a crush of neighbors from all over the metro area.
Finally, this blissed-out crowd of 250,000 supporters received the word at about 8:30 p.m. that Ohio voted for Barack, and a massive roar rolled across Butler Park and up Michigan Avenue, bouncing off the walls of skyscrapers—and it was simply dwarfed by the euphoria of human hopes and dreams so long deferred breaking open and taking their first breath of real air.
Women and men of all ages and ethnicities reached for one another’s hands, tears, cries, jubilant screams falling without shame. High-fives mixed with disbelief. Some fell to the ground crying, friends and strangers comforting them. Some were dazed and confused, asking one after another passerby if it could be true. Hordes of Chicagoans who had expected to spend their evening in front of the TV at home instead poured off the trains into the festival at Michigan and Congress. It was the most tame and joy-filled celebration this city must have ever seen. Not a bottle was broken or a garden-walk trampled.
The next morning, I was dazzled and dazed. A walk north on Michigan toward the train revealed that I was not alone. We were still treating our disbelief with doses of newspaper headlines and gossip of “where were you when you heard” on the train.
As sunshine broke over Lake Michigan, I took count of my losses and gains. Lost: A lifetime of skepticism about what might be possible here for African Americans. Gained: The belief that a new day is dawning, that I can hold my head up high as an American and a U.S. citizen.
I just may have to buy an American Flag.
There is no doubt that there is more work to do for gay rights and for civil rights. But now, those of us who want to bring everyone to the table of power have reason to be hopeful as we turn our nose to the grindstone and our hands toward our grave tasks. We have reason to believe that we can set and achieve goals like righting this upside-down economy, closing our torture camps, cleaning up our environmental disasters, and resurrecting equality for LGBT people, not just in California but everywhere.
Proposition 8 Opponents Rally in Chicago
I went to the Chicago Proposition 8 protest on Saturday, November 15. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done. About 5,000 people were jammed into Federal Plaza at Adams and Dearborn Streets. The Chicago Police Department had barricaded the plaza to a point where we only had half the space. It was shoulder to shoulder.
Across the street, the religious right numbered about 20 and held the usual hateful signs that we’ve seen for years at every gay pride event. Suddenly, however, like divine providence, a huge gust of Chicago wind blew their signage into the street just as a city bus ran over the messaging, grinding their placards into the oily wet gutter.
When we started to march, the police tried to cordon us to the sidewalk. A group of 5,000 was told to walk only on the sidewalk. It was ridiculous, and people started to get angry. Finally, we broke through the police blockade and took over the street.
As we walked by the Palmer House Hilton, the entire street filled with protestors, a woman in an SUV tried to pull out into the crowd from in front of the hotel. A police officer jumped in front of her and hit the hood of her car. She rolled down her window, and he shouted at her to stop because she was going to hurt someone. “I’m late for a wedding,” she shouted at him. Everyone who heard her burst into laughter at the irony. I’ve known people who’ve been late to their weddings for over 20 years, I thought.
We marched to Michigan Avenue and Grant Park—the site of the 1968 demonstrations—and it felt like history was being made again. We brought traffic to a standstill as we marched northbound. The police tried to use horses to push us back onto the sidewalks, but we turned and headed back into the streets, across Daley Plaza, and then back to State Street past Macy’s and up to the ABC studio, where the crowd came to a halt in front of the cameras.
A friend chatted with a very elderly man on the sidelines who was from Poland. He told him it was amazing to see gay people be able to march like this. “In Russia, in Poland, in Germany, this never would have happened,” he said.
We marched north to the river, and, once again, the police tried to get us to turn back into the Loop, where there was little traffic or people. But the crowd pushed in the opposite direction, and we walked along Wacker Drive and then turned up Michigan Avenue.
Up the avenue we marched. From the sidelines, some people looked fearful or disgusted, but mostly we saw people smiling and cheering us on. Cars were honking in support. At one point, we passed a group of mothers and their daughters out for a day of shopping. They collectively started cheering and chanting along with us. It was amazing.
When I reached the John Hancock Center, I turned back and looked down Michigan Avenue. As far as I could see, I saw flags and signs. It was incredible.
As I walked to the train, I felt empowered. After years of having our lives controlled by other people, we, at least for a few hours, controlled several streets. It reminded me of the activism I hadn’t seen since the early years of the AIDS crisis. People are angry, people are motivated, and people are tired of homophobia and discrimination.
While sitting on a bench waiting for the el, I overheard the comments of a family from out of town who were next to me. They were talking about the freaks on the streets. Laughing and making disparaging comments. It was a rotten thing to hear after feeling so upbeat. But, at the same time, it reminded me that there’s a long way to go.
Check out Join the Impact at www.jointheimpact.org. Over one million people have signed up to be part of the nationwide fight for equality.
A Day Without A Gay
Protest for Equality on December 10
On Wednesday, December 10, 2008, from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., the LGBT community and our allies will protest passage of anti-gay constitutional amendments in a picket line at Chicago City Hall (121 N. LaSalle St./118 N. Clark St.). This protest, like the November 15 protest against California’s Proposition 8, is one of nationwide direct action.
December 10 has been designated “Day Without a Gay” and is a national economic boycott in which LGBT people and our supporters are urged to call in “gay” (i.e., not go to work), not spend any money, and spend the day volunteering for a greater cause. (For more information about “Day Without a Gay,” please see http://www.jointheimpact.com. ) Coming together at City Hall is just one such opportunity to stand up for our beliefs and rights as individuals.
OPALGA has been contacted directly by local organizers of the Chicago City Hall picket line. They are looking for support in copying and distributing flyers for the event, and they are interested in forming direct, face-to-face relationships with LGBT groups in the Chicago area. If there is anything you can do to help, please contact Nikalas Maciejewski (nmciejewski@gmail.com or 630-205-5025).
Now is the time to keep up, and intensify, the momentum. Please spread the word, and join the fight for equality on December 10!
Madonna Rocks the United Center
Even the warnings about the high winds hitting Chicago on Sunday, October 26, were no match for the high-octane energy that was supplied by Madonna at the first of her two shows at the United Center. Although she turned 50 in August, and recently filed for divorce from her husband Guy Ritchie, one would never know that anything was amiss from her latest Chicago performance. The LGBT community turned out in droves for the show, and it is a safe bet to say that none of them left disappointed.
For the uninitiated, a Madonna show is much more than just a concert—she mixes her songs with amazing dancing, striking visual imagery, extensive use of the latest video technology, and dazzling theatrical staging. Beginning with her “Drowned World” tour in 2001, she has divided her shows into four separate arcs, usually with an overriding theme to each. For this year’s “Sticky and Sweet” tour, she chose the themes of Pimp, Old School (80’s New York), Gypsy, and Rave. Proving once again why she is a one-word phenomenon, she turned each of these arcs into a separate mini-concert.
To open the show, Madonna chose the Pimp arc to let the crowd know that this was going to be a night where they were on their feet the entire time. She chose the title track from her latest CD “Candy Shop” as the opening number and followed this with “The Beat Goes On,” another high-energy dance tune. Part of her stage set was a runway out into the middle of the arena, which she used at least once an arc, and often with multiple numbers. It was out here that she did a modern version of her hit “Human Nature” (including the talked-about Britney video that ended with “It’s Britney, bitch”
, which she followed with yet another different version of “Vogue.” Part of what is so incredible about Madonna’s show is that a song as huge as “Vogue” would simply be another number in the show, while so many other artists would have to rely on that as a signature closing number. That is what happens with so many No. 1 hits!
Madonna has always been about dancing, and so she returned to her roots in Old School (80’s New York) for her next segment. She used the video screens so concertgoers could see a version of “Die Another Day” and then kicked it up a notch or two. Taking the stage to a gigantic Keith Haring backdrop and twelve dancers, she performed “Into the Groove” and “Heartbeat” to roars from the crowd. To anyone who wonders how she stays in the shape she is in, he or she only has to attend a concert to find out. In addition to all of her constant dancing and prancing around, she jumped rope (including some double Dutch!) as part of this section. After doing a punk rock version of “Borderline,” she then segued into “She’s Not Me” and “Music.” Again, it is incredible that a song as big as “Music” is just another number to her.
The sellout crowd had been roaring all evening, but it only got louder as she moved into her Gypsy arc. Using a video segment to introduce it, she urged people to vote and save the planet. She of course had McCain’s picture in with the “bad guys,” while making sure her “good guys” section included our own Oprah and ended with Barack. Unfortunately, she didn’t treat the Chicago crowd to one of her anti-Sarah Palin rants! This section began on the runway with “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You” and moved into an incredible “Spanish Lesson” that featured eight of her dancers as monks dressed in hooded black robes. After a moving “Miles Away” that left no doubt as to whom she wrote this song about, she performed a flamenco-type version of “La Isla Bonita” that also featured a sampling of “Lela Pala Tele.” To the utter delight of everyone, she then wrapped up the arc with “You Must Love Me,” where she toned down the instrumentation and let everyone hear why Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the song especially for her for the film Evita.
Madonna wrapped up the show with Rave, and while the younger generation might have expected the noun, one has to use the verb to describe this arc. After a video opening of “Get Stupid,” she delivered (with the help of Justin Timberlake on video screens) a full-throttle version of her recent megahit “4 Minutes.” Although there was no need, she exhorted “Chi-town” to jump, and one would have thought that the United Center might not survive the pounding it was taking from 20,000 people jumping up and down. After going into “Like a Prayer” and “Ray of Light,” she then did a few lines of “Beautiful Stranger” before moving into “Hung Up.” Again, the rapid succession of these huge hits was almost mind-boggling, but there was no time to reflect yet as she closed her show with “Give It to Me.” As the giant video screens then proclaimed “GAME OVER,” the crowd left the arena to a prerecorded “Holiday” playing in the background.
Yes, another Madonna concert had come and gone, but the recent inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame proved again why she belongs there. One of the hardest-working entertainers gave the crowd all she had, and those two hours of memories would hold them over until her next tour.
Chicago Lesbian & Gay Film Fest to Hold Two Events in Oak Park
Reeling 2008: The Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival begins this month. As the second-oldest LGBT film festival in the world, Reeling continues to push boundaries and keep its programming fresh by presenting work from multiglobal perspectives and in genres ranging from insightful experimental to romantic comedy. Reeling 2008 will screen approximately 70 independent films over 11 days, from November 6–16, 2008.
This year, there will be two events in Oak Park. Both events will take place at the Velvet Rope, 728 W. Lake St., Oak Park, IL 60301.
C’mon Get Happy Party
Saturday, November 8, 11:00 p.m.
A whole lotta fun is what we’ll be bringing—all you have to bring is yourself and your friends! Mark Payne, world-renowned female impersonator and make-up artist, will be performing at the Velvet Rope, a chic ultra lounge in Oak Park. We will also be screening Payne’s colorful, coming-of-age musical short, Get Happy. Enjoy the entertainment, watch music videos, and eat appetizers while drinking Blue Moon Beer and Three Olives Vodka cocktails with your two-drink tickets.
Steamy Friends & Lovers After-Party
Friday, November 14, 11:00 p.m.
Join us for a steamy after-party with the directors (and maybe some surprise stars!) of Steam and Friends & Lovers and indulge in tasty appetizers at the posh club, the Velvet Rope. Thirsty? No sweat! With two-drink tickets good for Blue Moon Beer and Three Olives Vodka cocktails, plus live music, karaoke, and Rock Reeling music videos on the screen, you’re sure to be in high spirits.
For more information about the film festival and to buy tickets, visit http://www.reelingfilmfestival.org For more information about the Velvet Rope, visit http://www.velvetropeoakpark.com.
Out and Proud Book Tour Stops by Oak Park
On Saturday, October 11, we had a very enjoyable National Coming Out Day at Borders in Oak Park. The reason for the gathering was to celebrate the recent publication of the first full-length history of the LGBT community in Chicago, Out and Proud in Chicago: An Overview of the City’s Gay Community. Published as a companion piece to the WTTW public television documentary aired earlier this year, and to the Web site http://www.ChicagoGayHistory.org, Out and Proud in Chicago spans our LGBT history from the prairie settlement to the present.
Participating in the panel discussion were:
• Tracy Baim, publisher and executive editor of the Windy City Media Group
• Marie Kuda, prominent local LGBT historian and writer
• Mel Wilson, a cofounder of OPALGA and longtime Oak Park activist and writer
• Ron Dorfman, a founder of the pioneering Chicago Journalism Review and veteran writer and editor
Also in the audience was John Cepek, National President of PFLAG. John spoke about the PFLAG National project Straight for Equality, which is an initiative to help the straight community find ways to support their LGBT friends and colleagues in everyday, easy ways.
Tracy, editor of the book, spoke about its genesis and the unbelievable speed (about six weeks) with which it was put together. If you look at this book, as I have been doing, you will be amazed at the wealth of information that Tracy and her team of contributors were able to produce in such a short amount of time. Tracy also reminded us that 10 years have passed since the brutal torture and subsequent death of Matthew Shepard.
Marie talked about what National Coming Out Day means to her, and Mel, who had a very different kind of coming out story, talked about the early days of activism in Oak Park, “Not,” he said, “to build a separate community, but to empower the community.” Finally, Ron read his piece on the 1911 Chicago Vice Commission, whose job was to eradicate “sex perversion” and “sodomy, or other crimes against nature.”
It was truly an interesting and informative discussion, and our thanks to Tracy, Marie, Mel, Ron, and John for “bringing the show on the road.” Signed copies of the book are available at Borders, and Marie has donated a copy to The OPALGA Center library.
News From BUNGALO
To our BUNGALO friends and members,
The BUNGALO Board of Directors had a busy spring and summer. May saw the inclusion of sexual orientation in Berwyn’s human rights ordinance. We hosted two Out After Work gatherings: drinks at Olive or Twist and an ice cream social at Over the Rainbow.
We screened the Academy-Award-winning film Freeheld at the 16th Street Theater as part of the Pride Week celebrations. The celebration for BUNGALO’s anniversary and Berwyn’s centennial held at Salerno’s was a big success.
The BUNGALO Board helped to staff a booth at North Halsted Market Days with the Berwyn Development Corporation (BDC). There, we met many festivalgoers from Berwyn, Oak Park, and Forest Park who were very impressed by the BUNGALO-BDC presence.
BUNGALO is in the process of going digital. We’re working to make sure that our e-mail lists are accurate. Look for the redesign of our Web site and logo coming soon. Membership renewal letters will soon be in your mailboxes. Please renew your memberships and support BUNGALO while we create our new look.
A Note from PFLAG
Thank you OPALGA!
Once again, you have helped to make our Farmers’ Market bake sales wildly successful. Not only did you help with the baking, but you also helped by buying delicious, homemade goodies. We also thank you for just stopping by and visiting with us. It’s good to make money but even better to know that our efforts are appreciated.
On a sadder note, one of our beloved members, Rosalie Lambis, passed away on September 12. You may remember her for her outrageous jewelry and hats and her love of talking to anyone and everyone. She will be missed by everyone who knew her.
Out and Proud In Chicago
Out and Proud in Chicago: An Overview of the City’s Gay Community is the first full-length history of the LGBT community in Chicago. Released this month, the book is edited by Chicago publisher and journalist Tracy Baim and features contributions from more than 20 historians and journalists and hundreds of photographs.
Among the contributors is historian and writer Marie Kuda, who is an Oak Parker and OPALGA member. Marie and Tracy will appear at Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore, 7419 Madison St., Forest Park, IL 60130 on Sunday, October 5, at 2:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public and will include a book discussion, question and answer session, and signing. On Saturday, October 11, at 2:00 p.m., Tracy, Marie, and other contributors will be at Borders, 1144 Lake St., Oak Park, IL 60301. National Coming Out Day is the occasion for this discussion and signing.
Published as a companion to the WTTW public television documentary of the same name, and to the Web site http://www.ChicagoGayHistory.org, Out and Proud in Chicago spans Chicago LGBT history from the prairie settlement to the present. Significant local history includes the chapter “A Model Community: Oak Park Pioneers Diversity” by OPALGA cofounder Mel Wilson and includes references to many local pioneers. Don’t miss OPALGA Youth Program Volunteer Andrew Walensa, who is pictured on p. 219 with the rest of the 2007 Windy City Times “30 Under 30” award winners.
Marie has generously donated a copy of Out and Proud in Chicago to keep at The OPALGA Center. We would like to thank Marie for her ongoing contributions to The Center.
Allied for Equality—New Illinois Initiative
Allied for Equality is a joint program between Equality Illinois (EQIL) and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). The goal of this program is to create an allied network of advocates across the state of Illinois who will work with the LGBT community toward achieving equality for all people. We are specifically targeting straight allies and asking them to speak up, to get on board, and to become active. Why? Because no American citizen should have to face discriminatory practices at home, work, or school—so, straight citizens need to be involved and in the forefront in the struggle for LGBT rights.
There are many ways to become involved with Allied for Equality, and we are looking for volunteers in the following areas:
• Legislative (getting postcards signed, calling or e-mailing legislators, lobby days)
• Creative (writing letters to the editor, sharing your story, monitoring news pundits)
• Social (hosting a house party or volunteering at a festival or other events)
• Spiritual (reaching out to your faith community, if you have one, and trying to get it more involved)
• Community (reaching out to organizations that you may already be involved with to start a partnership)
In the end, we want to have action groups set up across the state of Illinois, ready to take on any struggle in the fight for LGBT equality.
If you are interested in becoming involved with Allied for Equality, please contact Caroline Staerk, Field Director of Allied for Equality, at 773-477-7173 or send e-mail to cstaerk@eqil.org.
