Thoughts for PrideFest from Equality Illinois 

Springfield PrideFest marks the first festival of the season celebrating Pride for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Illinoisans, our families, friends, allies and neighbors. On June 1, we will be marking the first anniversary of statewide marriage equality in Illinois.

This is certainly a season to celebrate. Here in Illinois, we’re luckier than most. We’ve had hate crime protections based on sexual orientation since 1990, LGBT-inclusive civil rights protections since 2005, anti-bullying policies since 2007, civil unions for same-sex couples since 2011 and marriage equality since 2014. Bipartisan legislative majorities and governors from both parties have joined in this progress and have helped us fine-tune and update these protections over the years.

At the same time, we are eagerly anticipating a favorable ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court by the end of June that should put an end to the unequal and unfair treatment of same-sex couples throughout the United States by making the freedom to marry the law of the land.

So let’s celebrate this historic moment and give ourselves a pat on the back for a job well done.

OK, now back to work. As far as we’ve come in Illinois regarding legal protections and widespread acceptance, the work for a much more challenging lived equality continues here and across America. That’s why the theme of the Equality Illinois festival season this year is #liveEQUAL.

To achieve that, this legislative session we’re supporting more than two dozen bills, including one to make sure LGBT youths are protected from the dangers of so-called conversion therapy. Every major mental health organization in the state has endorsed this effort.

Transgender Illinoisans face unique challenges, especially in employment and health care. Equality Illinois is working with organizations as diverse as the Transportation Security Administration and local businesses to bridge that gap. We are also supporting a bill that explicitly protects transgender people under the state’s hate crimes statutes. Another measure ensures a balance between a medical professional’s right of conscience and a patient’s right to medical information and access to health care. This last bill is of critical importance to transgender individuals who may face resistance from a health care provider when needing medically-necessary treatments and procedures.

Our organization is educating faith communities on how to advocate for equality and on creating safe and welcoming spaces for LGBT individuals. We protect LGBT Illinoisans in the workplace by regularly working with businesses to maintain affirming and inclusive work environments.

Most critical at the moment are the budget challenges facing Illinois. Equality Illinois is a member of the Responsible Budget Coalition, a large and diverse coalition of 200 organizations united to preserve vital services for Illinoisans. The coalition focuses on three common principles: ensure adequate revenue to support state priorities and make smart investments, make no more cuts to services and establish fairness in revenue sharing and cuts caused by failure to raise adequate revenue.

Among the most dramatic cuts opposed by Equality Illinois in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s fiscal year 2016 budget include:

HIV/AIDS: Funding for HIV/AIDS services are reduced by 25 percent, and the African-American HIV/AIDS Response Fund is cut by 66 percent. This is shortsighted because for every new case of HIV prevented, the state saves $435,000 per person in lifetime medical care and treatment costs.

Medicaid: The proposed budget slashes the Medicaid program by $1.47 billion. These massive cuts to the Medicaid program directly impact the health of HIV+ people, transgender people and women. For these individuals, early detection of infection and cancer can mean the difference between life and death.

Homelessness and Stable Housing: Forty percent of homeless youth identify as LGBT. Many of these youths leave or are thrown out of their homes when they come out of the closet. It is deeply harmful to them then that the proposed budget would deny more than 1,300 homeless youth access to shelters and other services.

Mental health: The proposed budget cuts or eliminates funding for mental health services, including funds for psychiatry and care coordinators who assist people with mental illness in finding appropriate care. Mental health services are especially important to LGBT youth, who suffer higher rates of depression, suicide attempts and substance abuse because of rejection, social stigmatization and harmful conversion therapy.

Anti-bullying: Funding is eliminated for programs that prevent school bullying despite adoption last year of major legislation requiring school officials to create and implement specific anti-bullying policies.

Immigrant integration services: These services are wiped out by the proposed budget. The program provides critical assistance to many LGBT immigrants seeking asylum in the United States or potentially to marry a partner.

Our important work does not stop at the Illinois border. Equality Illinois is the largest LGBT advocacy organization in the Midwest, and it is the responsibility of the community to speak up on issues in Washington and when we and our neighbors are threatened by the action of states around us.

We might be able to get married in Illinois and have our civil rights protected here, but we can’t drive east to west through the country without being married in one state and unmarried in the next. Even in some states where marriage is legal, and, of course, where’s it’s not, we could be out of a job or be denied services because we are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. That not only leaves LGBT Illinoisans unprotected but threatens our ability to deal with family emergencies where our marriages are not recognized.

Next door in Indiana, when the legislature and Gov. Mike Pence passed a so-called religious freedom law, they cited a similar law passed by Illinois in 1998. However, Equality Illinois and like-minded allies, including business leaders, pointed out that the Illinois law was more narrowly crafted and is balanced by protections in the Illinois Human Rights Act that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment, and public accommodations.

And we are working in Washington toward the day there are national civil rights protections for LGBT Americans like the ones we enjoy here in Illinois.

So, as we wear the colors of the rainbow at Springfield PrideFest this weekend and all the other events from Chicago to Carbondale this season, our joy is tempered by knowing the challenges that remain so that we can #liveEQUAL.

Mike Ziri, a Springfield native, is the director of a public policy at Equality Illinois.