Berwyn gays commemorate 20th anniversary

[Ted]

From the BUNGALO facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/BUNGALOBerwynGLBT/posts/825597087505248

Today, BUNGALO commemorates the 20th anniversary of the event that resulted in the formation of BUNGALO.

On December 21, 1994, the Berwyn City Council had a public hearing on a newly proposed Community Relations Ordinance that would prohibit housing and job discrimination in Berwyn based on a set of protected classes, including race, ethnic background, gender, military service, marital status, disability status, sexual orientation and some other categories.

The inclusion of sexual orientation in the proposed ordinance caused a controversy. The Berwyn Life newspaper wrote an article before the hearing voicing the objections of two pastors in Berwyn - Larry Pilkington of the Emmanual Bible Church on Ogden Avenue and John Taylor of the Grace Bible Church in north Berwyn.

At the hearing, both Taylor and Pilkington as well as John Bourgeaud (a conversative Republican activist) voiced their objections to the inclusion of sexual orientation as a protected class. John Taylor made the comment - "There is no need to include sexual orientation in the ordinance because no gay people live in Berwyn."

Several gay people also attended the meeting that day and spoke out in favor of the ordinance, voicing support for including the category of sexual orientation as a protected class.

Those of us gays and lesbians who spoke in favor of the audience were astounded at Taylor's belief that no gay people lived in Berwyn.

But, the city council wanted to pass the ordinance without controversy. At the city council meeting on December 27, 1994 (6 days later), 8th ward alderman Joe Keating made a motion to remove sexual orientation as a protected class in the ordinance. That motion passed 8 to 0 with all 8 alderman voting to remove sexual orientation as a protected class. Keating then made a motion to pass the Community Relations Ordinance and the ordinance also passed by an 8 to 0 vote.

The 8 aldermen were 1st ward alderman Michael O'Connor; 2nd ward alderman Larry Menchetti, 3rd ward alderman Rick Toman; 4th ward alderman Ron Pechota; 5th ward alderman Sal Gambina; 6th ward alderman Ray Fron; 7th ward alderman Sonny Stillo and 8th ward alderman Joe Keating.

The gays and lesbians who attended the hearing and the city council meeting decided to form a gay organization in Berwyn. The name of the organization would be the Berwyn United Neighborhood Gay And Lesbian Organization (BUNGALO).

The goals of the organization were four fold -
1) Poitical - to become politically active in political issues involving gays and lesbians;
2) Social - to be a social organization where gays and lesbians living in Berwyn would meet and socialize
3) Community - to participate in Berwyn as a community organization
4) Communication - to communicate with the residents of Berwyn that gays and lesbians were part of the community.

BUNGALO's motto became "We, too, are Berwyn" and BUNGALO legally formed as an organization in January of 1995, one month after the hearing.

BUNGALO's first public act was to buy 10 bricks on the Berwyn Library's Pathway ot Knowledge in honor of 10 gay and lesbian authors.

In the 20 years since then, BUNGALO was walked and ridden in the Pride Parade; lobbied and talked to legislators in Springfield about gay rights issues; held lectures and political candidates forums at the library; planted flowers around the Berwyn train station; sponsored a play and a movie at the 16th street theatre; had a booth at Halsted Market Street days touting Berwyn as a place to live; wrote Letters to the Editor of the Berwyn Life on gay issues and had monthly social events where gays and lesbians living in Berwyn could socialize.

In May of 2008, the Berwyn City Council added back sexual orientation to its community relations ordinance, coming ful circle from what happened in December of 1994.

BUNGALO has had over 200 paid members over those 20 years (BUNGALO's membership peaked in the year 2000 at 150 members).

It's been a long, strange trip for BUNGALO over the last 20 years. The world of today is a different place for gays and lesbians today than it was on December 21, 1994.

And, unlike John Taylor 20 years ago, Berwynites today know that gays and lesbians are a part of the Berwyn community.

[watcher]

Something truly worth celebrating. You've bettered your community. Granted, you had to drag some of it kicking and screaming toward a just outcome for all, but you also made it much easier for people to learn and grow. Congratulations.

[Ted]

Something truly worth celebrating. You've bettered your community. Granted, you had to drag some of it kicking and screaming toward a just outcome for all, but you also made it much easier for people to learn and grow. Congratulations.

Thanks, Watcher.  But, based on a story in this week's Windy City Times, we still have a long way to go:

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/EI-wants-Warren-Township-School-board-member-to-resign/49966.html


EI wants Warren Township School board member to resign
2014-12-12

  Equality Illinois is calling for the resignation of Warren Township High School District 121 Board member Liz Biondi for suggesting that the search for a new school superintendent exclude gay or lesbian candidates, thereby violating the clear Illinois law prohibiting discrimination against gay and lesbian job candidates.

At a public meeting of the board on Dec. 2, 2014 in Gurnee, Ill., Biondi expressed that she is "going to be very blunt" and proceeded to caution the search firm against bringing gay or lesbian candidates for superintendent: "I'm concerned that if we hired someone that we were not aware of that background, that they may be fighting more personal fires than superintendent fires, I guess is what I'm going to say."

While some participants at the meeting noted that there are successful gay and lesbian school officials in other districts and that they can't lawfully ask about job candidates' sexuality, Biondi retorted: "Well, not until they get here."

"Public officials have a duty to not only follow the law but to expect that kind of behavior by others in official positions," said Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois. "Biondi clearly demonstrated that she is not worthy of the trust to hold a position on the school board. We find Biondi's comments as someone who is sworn to uphold the law to be reprehensible, and she needs to resign from the board effective immediately, certainly before the search process proceeds. We appreciate Warren Township board President John Anderson's reaffirming the values of diversity in the workplace and seeking Biondi's departure from the board, and we call on him to recommit that the search for a superintendent will not discriminate against lesbian or gay applicants and follow the law."


The Illinois Human Rights Act of 2006 specifically precludes discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and this law also covers all public agencies, including school boards.

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http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/School-board-member-causes-controversy-with-anti-gay-remarks/49975.html

School board member causes controversy with anti-gay remarks
by Matt Simonette
2014-12-14

   A Warren Township High School District 121 board member, on Dec. 11, apologized for comments she made about the possibility of a gay or lesbian school superintendent, but said that she would not step down over the matter, NBC-5 reported.

In a public meeting Dec. 2 in Gurney, Liz Biondi said, "I'm concerned that if we hired someone that we were not aware of that background, that they may be fighting more personal fires than superintendent fires, I guess is what I'm going to say."

The following week, she told NBC-5 in a statement, "It was never my intention that this be a part of hiring questions or guidelines nor should a person's sexual orientation ever be a part of that. I was relaying a question which someone had asked me. I did not expect my intentions to be taken out of context. In retrospect, I should never have asked the question."

Biondi's initial remarks drew fire from a number of sources. Her colleagues on the board have discussed the possibility of her removal, while a change.org petition was launched Dec. 10 calling for her to step down. As of Dec. 14, it had 2,664 signatures.

In a statement, Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov said, "Public officials have a duty to not only follow the law but to expect that kind of behavior by others in official positions. Biondi clearly demonstrated that she is not worthy of the trust to hold a position on the school board. We find Biondi's comments as someone who is sworn to uphold the law to be reprehensible, and she needs to resign from the board effective immediately, certainly before the search process proceeds."

Discrimination in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited by the Illinois Human Rights Act of 2006. District 121 board officials said they would meet Dec. 15 to try to resolve the matter.

[watcher]

Yeah, there is that. I'd say she is a lagging indicator, but sadly, her major mistake was saying it out loud, in a public forum.
A more savvy operator would have said nothing, then used her vote to perpetuate the nod/wink sentiment. It points to the piss-poor candidate vetting process and the utter stupidity of basing elections on fully-staged popularity contests in which sociopaths and closeted misanthropes have a distinct advantage. I'm sure Ms. Biondi's biases were known, but downplayed, prior to her election. The media who ran with this debacle are co-conspirators in the process that puts such people into power positions.