National LGBTQ Civil Rights Event Kicks Off In Chicago Friday
By Gwendolyn Purdom in News on Jul 15, 2016 8:32PM
Between President Obama designating the Stonewall Inn a national monument and the tragedy at a gay nightclub in Orlando last month, the progress and shortfalls of the gay rights movement are as relevant as ever. Starting Friday, The Chicago History Museum and the Center on Halsted will team up with the National Archives to host a two-day forum to explore the state and future of those rights. The "National Conversations on Rights and Justice" event is the second in a series of national gatherings that will be held through early 2017 to discuss human rights as they relate to topics such as immigration, gender equality and civil rights in celebration of the 225th anniversary of the Bill of Rights.
In addition to a keynote speech and Q&A Saturday morning from poet Richard Blanco, the event's schedule includes a Friday night performance by the Youth Empowerment Performance Project, and panel discussions Saturday on legal issues the LGBT community faces, socio-economic issues and issues affecting transgender and gender non-conforming people.
"National Conversations" keynote speaker Richard Blanco
Plans for the event have been in the works since as early as last November, according to Michael Cansfield, who heads the Chicago History Museum's long-running Out at CHM program, but in light of recent events, the conversations couldn't come at a better time.
"This past month has been quite tumultuous, not just in our community, but in many communities in the wake of Orlando and the racial tumultuousness that we've seen in the past week or two. I think a lot of people who work in this sector of equality can become disheartened and see this work as gargantuan," Center on Halsted director of public relations Peter Johnson said. "But organizations like the National Archives are really forward-thinking in providing a space where we can really come together as a community to talk about these issues and find ways forward."