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Out the Archives is a recurring feature diving into the archives of Windy City Times, offering a look back at the rich history of LGBTQ+ Chicago.
In this edition, we look back at the December 2001 issue of En La Vida, which included Windy City Times co-founder Tracy Baim’s interview with U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez and activist Alberto Senior about LGBTQ+ immigration rights.
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LGBTQ+ rights and immigration are some of the most hot-button topics in the U.S. government today. The same was true nearly 25 years ago.
In the December 2001 issue of En La Vida, Tracy Baim wrote on the difficulties of LGBTQ+ couples looking to fully immigrate to the United States who were faced with homophobic regulations and restrictions. In Oct. 2001, the Human Rights Campaign hosted a forum for testimonies as an attempt to keep binational same-sex partners together in the U.S. The forum took place at the Ann Sather restaurant on Belmont Avenue.
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The event came after a Congressional bill was introduced—the Permanent Partners Immigration Act—which would provide same-sex partners of U.S. citizens and permanent residents the same immigration rights provided to heterosexual couples. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a co-sponsor of the bill, came and listened to the testimonies which often described dealing with anti-gay laws and mountains of bureaucracy.
One point of discussion among Illinois representatives was whether U.S. Rep. Rod Blagojevich would sign on as a co-sponsor. He ultimately did not, but Gutierrez and U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Danny Davis signed on the day the legislation was introduced. It ultimately did not pass.
One of the event’s testimonies came from activist Alberto Senior, who spoke about how he and his partner, Rev. Stan Sloan—who was then president of Chicago House—did not want to be forced to move to Senior’s home country of Venezuela to stay together.
“This is my home,” Senior said. “It’s very unfair and it feels horrible. I’ve brought here nothing but good.”
In 2013, the United States Supreme Court’s U.S. v. Windsor decision, which found the Defense of Marriage Act to be unconstitutional, helped ease rules for same-sex couples hoping to move a partner to the U.S. The subsequent Obergefell v. Hodges decision in 2015 instituted full marriage equality for LGBTQ+ couples.
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Did you contribute to En La Vida during its 1996-2004 run? We want to hear from you! Email Managing Editor Jake Wittich at wittichjake@gmail.com to get in touch.
The post Out the Archives: LGBTQ+ immigration issues in the early 2000s appeared first on Windy City Times.
