BUNGALO Briefings
BUNGALO Victory After 13 Years
On Tuesday, May 27, the Berwyn City Council voted unanimously to amend the city’s Community Relations Ordinance to protect residents from discrimination due to sexual orientation. Berwyn joins only 13 other Illinois cities affording this protection to residents.
The current Berwyn United Neighborhood Gay and Lesbian Organization (BUNGALO) Board of Directors extends a heartfelt thank you to BUNGALO’s founders and past board members for shouldering the work for the last 13 years that led to this victory. They adopted the motto “We Too Are Berwyn” years ago to remind city leaders that the Berwyn LGBT community was an important part of the larger community and should not have been excluded. Today, we can say “We All Are Berwyn,” as the city becomes a totally inclusive community.
Please join us in thanking the community leaders who helped to make this possible. The Berwyn Community Relations Commissioners: Terri Shonder, Director, Nora Laureto, Secretary, Mike Collins, Richard Feliciano, Blanca Gonzalez, and Tish McMahon, City Clerk Tom Pavlik, Alderman Mark Weiner (BUNGALO member), and Alderman Nona Chapman. We are also grateful for the leadership shown on this issue by Alderman Robert Lovaro and Alderman Michelle Skryd, and we would like to thank Mayor Michael O’Connor (BUNGALO member) and Aldermen Ramos, Day, Phelan, and Erickson for voicing their support and for their affirmative vote. Included in our thanks also are Susan Anderson and Kenan Seda and the All Berwyn Committee for including BUNGALO in the recent diversity forum that really kicked things into gear.
Last but not least, we thank you for being supportive of BUNGALO. Whether you live in Berwyn or not, your participation in our activities and those of the larger community in which we all live made this day in Berwyn possible. Everyone can share in this victory.
Award-Winning Documentary Screened in Berwyn
BUNGALO, in partnership with the North Berwyn Park District and the 16th Street Theater, presented a screening of the documentary Freeheld, which concerns Detective Lieutenant Laurel Hester of the New Jersey Police Department. Facing death from cancer, Laurel spends the final year of her life fighting a policy that will not allow her to transfer her pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree. Freeheld won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. The film was shown on Friday, June 20, at the 16th Street Theater in the Berwyn Cultural Center.
Party of the Century
On Saturday, June 21, members and friends of the Berwyn United Neighborhood Gay and Lesbian Organization (BUNGALO) gathered at Salerno’s Restaurant in Berwyn to celebrate in a big way:
• the 13th anniversary of BUNGALO;
• the centennial of the city of Berwyn;
• and the recent vote by the Berwyn City Council to amend the city’s Community Relations Ordinance to protect residents from discrimination due to sexual orientation, a huge cause for celebration.
Guests enjoyed dinner, dancing, and a drag show during this very special event. Congratulations to our friends at BUNGALO!
