THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...
November 28, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
Welcome back to the post-turkey and pumpkin pie slog.
Veto session wraps this week and negotiations are still ongoing about how to change (or if to change) the much-debated SAFE-T Act and the elimination of cash bail in the state. I heard a bunch of competing rumors last week, so hopefully I’ll get you some details tomorrow in the newsletter.
What’s on your mind for the final month of the year? Drop me a note at patrick@theillinoize.com.
And, as always, your support is necessary to help us make this little venture work. If you’re willing to join us as a paid subscriber, click the link below. It’s just $99 for a year or $9.99 per month.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Illinois a beacon for gender-confirming care, despite limitations (Bloomington Pantagraph)
llinois is seen in many regards as the “blue island” of the Midwest — a state that has codified abortion rights, same-sex marriage and recreational adult-use cannabis.
That framing now seems to be extending to transgender and nonbinary issues, as a growing number of people are traveling to Illinois seeking gender-confirming health care.
Kez Cesarz, a 29-year-old who identifies as nonbinary, said in an interview with Lee Enterprises that they can get care in their home state of Wisconsin, but “Chicago is kind of a beacon of, like, 'Everybody’s welcome here. We’ve got the technology; we’ve got the resources; we’ve got the education.' … There’s so many different choices, I think, so it wouldn’t surprise me if people migrate to Illinois or check the resources there more often.”
Medical services related to gender identity can include puberty blockers, gender-confirming hormone therapy, gender-confirming surgical procedures and voice therapy. Organizations like Planned Parenthood of Illinois have seen a significant increase in recent years of patients traveling from out of state seeking this type of care.
Experts in biology and sociology say gender is a spectrum rather than a binary structure of only male or female. Transmasculine and transfeminine are sometimes used to describe the way a person expresses gender.
Cesarz was assigned female at birth, but now identifies as transmasculine nonbinary. They said they’re “soft-launching” using they/them pronouns, “which means to me that I still go by she/her and if somebody mistakes me and says he/him, I don’t bat an eye.”
Related: In post-Roe America, pilots take the abortion battle to the skies (WBEZ)
Illinois program urges students to “Seek Help Before Harm” (Illinois Public Media)
Students who feel they have no place to turn can use a program that allows them to provide information confidentially.
With Safe2Help, details will be relayed to local school officials and a 9-1-1 call center, depending on the nature of what’s shared.
Samantha Kanish, Safe2Help’s School Safety and Policy Advisor, said the program encourages students to “Seek Help Before Harm”. She said the majority of reports come from students alerting authorities about a friends’ safety
“The number one reason students report to Safe2Help is bullying, followed by suicidal ideation as reported by another student. We do see that students care about their friends and they do see concerning behaviors and they want to help,” Kanish said.
It’s also geared to prevent other acts of violence. Sae2Help points out in 85% of mass shootings, someone knew something prior to the event.
She added students are utilizing the program more now that they’re back in the classroom after pandemic closures.
Related: Opinion: Fight mass shootings with education (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Hearing the Latino Political Voice in Chicago (Chicago Magazine)
Chicago may be a few months away from electing its first Latino mayor. Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia announced his candidacy this month, and is already considered the front runner. That makes Columbia College professor Wilfredo Cruz’s new book Latinos in Chicago: Quest for a Political Voice, out this month from Southern Illinois University press, especially timely. According to Cruz, Latinos did not become a political force in Chicago until the mayoralty of Harold Washington (for whom Cruz served as an assistant press secretary). But they’re now the city’s fastest growing ethnic group, and are accumulating power at all levels of government: the city council, the county board, the state legislature and Congress. Is the mayor’s office next?
There were Latinos elected to office before Harold Washington, such as Joe Berrios to the state legislature, but you say that Latino empowerment really began under Mayor Harold Washington. Why is that?
Well, that’s when it started big time. I start off the book with Emilio Rodriguez, who ran for mayor of Chicago in 1911. He lost, and then later on, he became the first alderman. For Washington’s campaign, he solicited the Latino vote. When he won, for the first time you saw brown and black faces at City Hall. He appointed a number of people to very important positions, such as Maria Cerda, she was at the Mayor’s Office of Employment Opportunity, Benjamin Reyes, one of his top assistants. Jesus Garcia, he gave him a job in the Department of Water. Luis Gutierrez, gave him a big job in the Department of Streets and Sanitation. And then on top of that, he started actively campaigning to help Latinos get elected, he helped Jesus Garcia to become an alderman. I don’t think Jesus would have won without the black vote. So all of a sudden you start seeing the beginnings of political empowerment under Harold Washington.
Why were Latinos such an important constituency for Washington?
He knew we couldn’t win without appealing to a larger audience than just African Americans. He needed the African-American vote, the progressive white vote, and also the Latino vote. Latinos were the swing vote.
Related: Progressive Latina Delia Ramirez Thinks Democrats Are Blowing It with Hispanic Voters (Politico)
Garcia Tops Mayoral Power Rankings (Chicago Magazine)
What will Obama center mean for nearby home values on the South Side? Wary of being priced out, groups push for housing benefits and protections (Chicago Tribune)
Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood is at a crossroads, with its high vacancies, preponderance of renters and the looming completion of the nearby Obama Presidential Center that is contributing to rising property values.
Now, frustrated by city efforts that they say fall short in preventing displacement around the Obama site, a group of Chicagoans is trying to place a referendum on the Feb. 28 ballot asking for new housing protections for nearby residents.
A similar campaign by the same coalition won protections for Woodlawn after a five-year campaign and long negotiations with city housing officials. But organizers in South Shore say they were shut out, and that initial steps announced by the Chicago Department of Housing to help area condo owners did not go far enough.
Over the past several weeks, the South Shore Community Benefits Agreement coalition has been knocking on doors and asking voters to sign a petition calling for city leaders to “prevent the displacement” of local residents with a sweeping list of asks: funding home repairs, increasing home ownership, providing property tax and rental relief, implementing eviction protections, banning application and move-in fees, developing affordable housing on city-owned vacant lots and creating local jobs programs.
There has been a loss of lower-cost rental units citywide, but South Shore has seen its share of renter-occupied households with rents under $900 — a key measure of affordability — drop by 23% since 2010, a slightly larger drop than the city. Households with rents under $900 dropped from nearly 12,000 in 2010 to roughly 8,000 in 2020, according to census data analyzed by DePaul University’s Institute for Housing Studies.
Housing prices in South Shore, meanwhile, have grown faster than prices for the city overall since 2015, when the Obama Foundation announced the center would be located on the South Side.
Editorial: Consider running for election to the offices that directly affect our quality of life (Daily Herald)
At the end of a long and contentious midterm election campaign, it's understandable if you're less than excited about another round of candidates waiting in the wings to get your attention, this time for local municipal and school board races.
Still, it's especially important to rise above any election fatigue and start preparing to hear from your friends and neighbors about why they are running to make decisions that help shape and determine the quality of life in our communities.
Indeed, we encourage you to consider joining them while there's still time to get on the April 4, 2023, ballot.
For most suburbs, candidates can begin filing petitions to run for office on Monday, Dec. 12. The filing period ends on Monday, Dec. 19. That gives you nearly three weeks in which to offer your time and talents to make a difference in the policies and practices that involve everything from how your sidewalks and streets get repaired to the quality of education your children receive.
We acknowledge from the start, and you'll quickly realize if you don't know already, that these are difficult and often unenviable jobs. A leader can't help but anger some people when making tough decisions in controversial situations that affect their lives, and that can lead to emotional complaints and stress.
But the work does carry rewards that cannot be duplicated in any other endeavor. There's a special sense of pride in knowing you accomplished something that makes our communities better, that you tackled a difficult problem and worked with your neighbors to achieve a solution with impact that will last long after you've left office.
Bravo.
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