BLAZING TRAILS

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14 April 20, 2016 WINDY CITY TIMES “Are you related? Do they live in your neighborhood? “When thinking about youth, or any part of Do you encounter them in your work? our communities that justice requires a very Do you share an ethnic or racial identity? Are different set of resources than a majority, they U.S. Citizens? Are they your age?” Hendrix imagination becomes very important,” Hendrix asked. “When you think of queer youth, who concluded. “We must imagine more broadly are you thinking of?” about other options that are available.” Hendrix added that each of the organizations For more information on Gender JUST, he presented “presume certain answers to these visit http://genderjust.wix.com/genderjust. questions and the capacity for which these organizations For more information on The Chicago Freevide are foundationally prepared to prodom School, visit http://chicagofreedom- intersectional support depends upon who school.org. they envision themselves serving.” Julian Hendrix of Gender JUST. Photo by Gretchen Rachel Hammond Gender JUST collaborative examines radical solutions to transgender issues By Gretchen Rachel Hammond On the cusp of celebrating a decade’s worth of work creating “new generations of critical and independent thinking young people who use their unique experiences and power to create a just world,” The Chicago Freedom School, located in Chicago’s South Loop, served as a tailor-made donated venue for members of the grassroots multiracial, multigenerational collective Gender JUST to hold an April 16 open forum. The event focused on ideas regarding access of trans youth to the restrooms with which they identify while also exploring a starting point for radical solutions to LGBTQ youth homelessness. According to their literature, the members of Gender JUST encompass an extensive range of “gender and sexual identities, skills, cultures, abilities, citizenship status educational backgrounds and income levels.” Founded in 2007, the collective seeks not only to smash capitalism but, among other metamorphic goals, to “transform queer communities by abolishing hierarchies” and “support a multi-dimensional and powerful movement and promote community-based solutions that are accountable to those most vulnerable to institutional violence and harm.” Three Gender JUST members—Yasmin Nair, Julian Hendrix and Kendall Granberry—led the “Are The Kids Alright?” discussion attended by a group of students, activists and community representatives from a full spectrum of ages, gender identities and racial backgrounds. There were no divisions to be found among any of them as the afternoon progressed and suggestions were raised in keeping with the collective’s goal, which Nair stated, to “be a cognitive movement that becomes a place where LGBTQ people can think about what radical alternatives are to what’s going on in the community.” To that end, Nair noted how trans issues have suddenly been thrust center-stage—both for good and for ill, she noted. “A lot of that is sincere, especially on the part of the trans community, which has needed resources for a very long time and which has, in the past, been marginalized by the Human Rights Campaign for instance—literally thrown under the bus,” Nair said. “But now trans is a big deal because that’s a big funding category.” “It’s a great opportunity,” Nair added. “It’s a great moment in time that finally people are accepting that trans issues are important and need to be funded, but we’ve also had very specific experiences with the nonprofit industrial complex, especially in Chicago, that we know interest in trans issues is very cynical and determined not so much in terms of actually working with trans people in the trans community, but with organizations who are taking a slice of the pie.” Recalling the recent legal fight waged in the suburb of Palatine’s Township School District 211 between the District’s Board and a high school student who wanted to use the changing room matching her authentic gender, Granberry listed some of the questions that emerged from what became one of the first public and media-saturated battles over the rights of trans individuals to perform a basic human function in a society that wants to set them apart and criminalize them. “How do we envision frameworks for trans liberation beyond legal frameworks?” Granberry wondered. “Focusing on community resources and social institutional responses to these populations is where a more radical strategy exists.” However, as illustrated by Gender JUST, not all institutions in the nonprofit arena are approaching the issue and that of youth homelessness from a passionate sense of social justice. The bottom line in an organization’s mission sometimes comes down to the size of its wallet and how to increase or justify the budget needed to fill it. Hendrix examined the queer youth homelessness work of three Chicago-based nonprofits— The Howard Brown Health Center (HBDC) and its Broadway Youth Center (BYC) program, The Puerto Rican Cultural Center project El Rescate and Project Fierce. Hendrix took an in-depth look at each organization’s history, funding and services and how they have answered some fundamental questions that include the shared identities of queer, gender nonconforming and trans youth. Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza. Courtesy of the Chicago Humanities Festival NCLR to honor Black Lives Matter co-founders The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) will honor the co-founders of Black Lives Matter, an 8-year-old transgender boy and a lesbian mother at its 2016 anniversary celebration on Saturday, May 7, in San Francisco. Black Lives Matter co-founders Alicia Garza, Patrisse Kahn-Cullors and Opal Tometi will receive the Justice Award. Garza has called Black Lives Matter “an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.” NCLR worked closely with Ryland Whittington, an 8-year-old transgender boy who won the hearts of millions when his parents, Jeff and Hillary, shared his journey through a YouTube video. Ryland will receive the Courage Award. Lastly, Tiara Yates and her family will receive the Courage Award. Yates (with wife Sheena) went through the court system to be legally recognized as one of her children’s second parent. More information about the Anniversary Celebration is at www.NCLRights. org/2016Anniversary. WCT receives two Lisagor Award nods The annual Chicago Headline Club journalism nominations have been announced, and Windy City Times newspaper has received two nominations for the group’s annual Peter Lisagor Awards. Gretchen Rachel Hammond is nominated in the non-daily category for Best In-Depth Reporting in a Community Newspaper, for her article, “Transgender woman release from jail after nearly 4 years without trial,” about the Eisha Love case. Hammond and Tracy Baim are also up for a jointly written editorial about the case, “Justice Delayed,” in the non-daily Best Editorial Writing category. Winners of the awards will be announced later this spring. Emanuel, CDPH unveil health plan Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced a new four-year plan that aims to improve the health and well-being of Chicagoans. Healthy Chicago 2.0 is composed of strategies for CDPH and its partners to address health disparities facing some neighborhoods and communities. Building on 2011’s Healthy Chicago plan, the new strategies outlined in the plan address traditional health issues as well as systemic issues associated with poor health, including housing, education and transportation. CDPH will also hold a series of town hall meetings during May (including at Lake View’s Center on Halsted on Wed., May 4) to engage residents in the implementation of the plan. Residents will be able to learn about the plan and ways they can become more involved in improving the health of their neighborhoods. More information is at http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdph/provdrs/ healthychicago/news/2016/march/mayoremanuel-announces-comprehensive-fouryear-plan-to-improve-.html. Rutherford in travel business Former Illinois Treasurer, state Rep. and state Sen. Dan Rutherford is in a different business altogether these days: travel. Rutherford heads the Pontiac, Illinoisbased Global Relations Travel Club. He has traveled to all seven continents and many countries, including Tibet, Kenya and Brazil. He is also a master scuba diver. Global Relations will head to Cuba May 21-28. Only club members may go on trips; membership is $29/year. See http://www.globalrelations.us/home. html or email DanRutherford@GlobalRelations.US. Dan Rutherford. Archival campaign photo
Celebrating 15 Years 2001-2016 WINDY CITY TIMES April 20, 2016 15 Tiny Home Summit responds to homelessness A full-scale model of the tiny home design that won a recent contest for housing for youth experiencing homelessness in Chicago was on display in advance of the April 18-19 Tiny Homes for the Homeless Summit at UIC. Architects Marty Sandberg, Lon Stousland and Terry Howell designed the winning model, selected among almost 300 entries in a competition. Price Construction built the model. The competition was organized by AIA Chicago, the AIA Chicago Foundation, Landon Bone Baker Architects, Windy City Times, and Pride Action Tank. Funding for the competition was provided by the Alphawood Foundation. The Pride Action Tank, a project of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, and the Windy City Times, along with lead sponsor Polk Bros. Foundation, joined by UIC’s Gender and Sexuality Center and Alphawood Foundation, are summit hosts. Tracy Baim, publisher of Windy City Times and co-chair of the Pride Action Tank, is chairperson of the summit. For summit info, see visit ChicagoTinyHomes. org. Above: The winning tiny home design. Below: Price Construction, the father-daughter team of Mallory Price (left) and her father David Price (center) with the architects of the winning tiny home design: Marty Sandberg, Lon Stousland and Terry Howell. Photos by Hal Baim and Tracy Baim Saturday, May 14 Registration: 10-11 a.m. Bowling: 11 a.m.-noon Wrap-up: Noon-12:30 p.m. Waveland Bowl 3700 N. Western Ave., Chicago This event is FREE and open to the public. Come cheer on the slate of celebrity bowlers. For sign-up to become a Celebrity Bowler please contact our event coordinators Kathy Caldwell and Darrick Johnson at inquiry@glhalloffame.org or call 773-459-8337. The 2016 Dick Uyvari Memorial Celebrity Bowl is sponsored by Friends of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame, 3712 N. Broadway, #637, Chicago, IL, 60613-4235; www.GLHallofFame.org. Friends of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) Illinois not-for-profit corporation. SPONSORS: 2016 DICK UYVARI MEMORIAL CELEBRITY BOWL FUNDRAISING EVENT Sam Coady, Phil Hannema, Michael Leppen, Richard Pfeiffer and Timothy K. Frye, Bill Pry, Richard Turner Grab a coffee, take a survey, change the world. Making a Difference is Easy. Take the 10th Annual LGBT Community Survey ® LGBTsurvey.com Your information is confidential, used for research purposes only. You will not be contacted for marketing purposes. Proudly LGBT-owned and -operated A pioneer in LGBT research, founded in 1992 NGLCC-Certified LGBT Owned Business Enterprise Morten Group Sponsors list still in formation
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