Kristi Keorkunian-Rivers (left), co-founder of the Chicago chapter of Stop Trans Genocide, and Lisa Battisfore, founder of Reproductive Transparency Now, hold signs during a Tuesday news conference.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Abortion rights advocates want to send delegates a message when they come to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention in August: They’re tired of what they say is “lip service” from the Democratic Party when it comes to reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, and they’re demanding action.
“We are tired of politicians using our slogans as talking points and then failing to deliver,” said Linda Loew, co-founder of Chicago For Abortion Rights, during a news conference Tuesday at City Hall. “No delegate will arrive in, or leave, Chicago without hearing our voice and knowing that we are serious about fighting for our rights and winning them.”
CFAR, an abortion rights group, is part of a coalition that applied for a permit to hold a march Aug. 18, the day before the convention kicks off at Jane M. Byrne Plaza, previously known as Water Tower Park. The convention will take place Aug. 19-22.
In addition to CFAR, Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws: Coalition for Reproductive Justice and LGBTQ+ Liberation includes members of local abortion rights and LGBTQ+ advocate groups Stop-Trans Genocide, Chicago Abortion Fund, Reproductive Transparency Now and the Gay Liberation Network.
The Chicago Department of Transportation has 10 days to make a decision on the permit and notify the applicant. Permits are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis, a CDOT spokesperson said, and are reviewed by multiple city departments. Approval of the permit depends on whether the event can be held safely.
CDOT hasn’t received any other applications for the time period when the convention is in town, the spokesperson said, but more applications are expected as convention dates approach.
Linda Loew, co-founder of Chicago For Abortion Rights, speaks during a news conference at City Hall Tuesday.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
The national convention, the city’s first since 1996, is expected to draw 5,000 to 7,000 delegates and alternates and attract up to 50,000 visitors to Chicago. Prime-time events will be held at the United Center, with daytime business conducted at McCormick Place.
At past national political conventions, official protest zones have been set up nearby, but security arrangements for this summer’s Democratic National Convention have not been publicly announced.
“The problem with the Democrats … is that they promise a lot and then deliver very little,” said Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network. “Democrats have used our issues to gain electoral advantage and then given us the bare minimum.”
Lisa Battisfore, founder of Reproductive Transparency Now, a Chicago-based group that works to advance reproductive justice, said elected officials in Illinois have failed abortion-rights advocates and those seeking abortions, citing Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s agreement to drop enforcement of Senate Bill 1909 last month, which aimed to deter deceptive practices by so-called crisis pregnancy centers.
Raoul’s decision followed a federal court ruling that the state could not enforce the law, which would have fined clinics up to $50,000 if they were found using “deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise or misrepresentation” to interfere with a person seeking access to an abortion or emergency contraception.
“Politicians failed us when it came to SB 1909, in the state of Illinois, a state that continuously shines a light as a leader in abortion policies,” Battisfore said. “They’re scared, and we need to put pressure on them to make them understand that they have to be in this with us, and maybe they need to be willing to give up their jobs.”
Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network, speaks to fellow activists with the group Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws: Coalition for Reproductive Justice and LGBTQ+ Liberation after filing an application for a permit to march during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 18.
Abortion rights and LGBTQ+ advocates also expressed frustration with the Democratic Party’s response to the Israel-Hamas war. Tuesday’s news conference follows a rally by Muslim community leaders from across the country in Chicago Saturday urging voters to drop their support for President Joe Biden because of his administration’s refusal to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Keorkunian-Rivers said the Democratic Party will lose the support of trans, queer and abortion rights advocates if their demand for “solid, unwavering reproductive justice“ is not met. She added that legislators have also been silent about Palestinians who have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.
More than 21,900 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants among the dead.
“The Democratic Party has largely been silent on the rights of trans and queer people, the genocide of Palestinians, the right to access adequate health care, and has done little to nothing about the rise of fascism that plagues our country today,” she said.
Kristi Keorkunian-Rivers, co-founder of the Chicago chapter of Stop Trans Genocide, speaks Tuesday during a news conference by the group Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws: Coalition for Reproductive Justice and LGBTQ+ Liberation at City Hall.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Editor’s note: Lisa Battisfore, founder of Reproductive Transparency Now, was misidentified in a photo caption in an earlier version of this article.
“I remember coming out of my apartment one day and spotting Chicago cops dragging young protesters out of one section of Lincoln Park and shoving them into trucks, while nearby poet Allen Ginsberg was chanting in a circle of peaceful protesters not far away from the radical Abby Hoffman,” remembers Dan Webb, who later became a U.S. attorney.
Democrats are deeply focused on Wisconsin and Michigan to help bolster President Joe Biden’s re-election chances — and officials, in town for meetings hosted by the Democratic National Convention Committee, say they plan on showing voters a deep party contrast.
Votes on $70 million to help migrants and the bond issue to fund housing and economic development now are set for Friday. The Council was, however, poised to approve a slew of other measures.
In Chicago, the Democratic National Committee leaders will pick the members of the party’s platform, rules and credentials committees at the last party meeting before the August convention to renominate President Joe Biden.
Ald. Brendan Reilly said he’s concerned paying a settlement to Bryan Mejia, who suffered a fractured leg and torn ACL, will invite protesters expected for the Democratic National Convention to wreak havoc, then bombard the city with lawsuits.
Protesters, residents and other DNC observers would be prohibited from bringing laptops, large bags, scooters and other items into certain areas closest to convention attendees under a proposed ordinance.
Pro-Palestinian protesters greeted Biden outside the Drake Hotel on the Gold Coast, where the president had a campaign meeting before making remarks at the fundraiser.
A Chicago fundraiser for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is expected to collected $2.5 million for the Biden Action Fund, a joint fundraising committee consisting of the Biden for President operation and the Democratic National Committee.
This week, residents and businesses near the United Center and McCormick Place will receive briefings on how they will be impacted by convention security plans.
Cristina Pacione-Zayas, having spent the last 11 months learning the ropes of city government as Rich Guidice’s top deputy, was the natural choice to replace Guidice.
The mayor made it clear he would not remove the City Council member for appearing at a rally where an American flag was burned to protest U.S. support for Israel.
The funds will help target a big problem for a city opening its doors to President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Convention in August. Just 17.94% of registered voters in suburban Cook County and 25.7% of registered voters in Chicago voted in the March 19 primary.
In between meetings with film and business leaders in California, Gov. J.B. Pritzker will fundraise for the Democratic National Convention Host Committee, including a reception in Los Angeles, and for abortion rights ballot initiatives in Arizona and Nevada.
The groups — both part of the Coalition to March on the DNC — filed for parade permits to march during the Aug-19 convention, but the city denied them, saying it would tie up traffic and require police officers it could not spare.
Whether the city’s low voter turnout on Tuesday is a sign of apathy or dissatisfaction, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and key Democrats are downplaying the significance for President Joe Biden. But one leading pollster calls it a warning bell for other key Democratic cities: ‘These cities need to be engines of turnout.’
The largest of the settlements — for $45 million — goes to Nathen Jones, who suffered a massive traumatic brain injury after an unauthorized police chase. The settlements were approved at a Council meeting that also saw Mayor Brandon Johnson introduce an ordinance authorizing drawing of boundaries for a security footprint around the Democratic National Convention.
“We want to make sure that we maintain peace,” Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said during a news conference Wednesday about this summer’s Democratic National Convention. “We’re going to police constitutionally.”
When it comes to qualifying for perks — and this is true for Democrats and Republicans in past conventions — big donors can vault into the elite ranks either by direct giving or raising political cash. The Sun-Times has exclusive details on what is being offered to the Biden Victory Fund’s donors at this summer’s Chicago gathering.
Owner George Lemperis said Friday the damage was extensive but that he plans to reopen: “They rebuilt the World Trade Center. I can certainly rebuild this.”
The legendary peace priest plans to lead a protest Feb. 15 demanding the Democratic National Committee set aside funds to house Chicago’s homeless residents. “Our message is simple: ‘No money put aside for the homeless: No convention,’ ” said Pfleger.
The city has denied a group’s permit to hold a demonstration at Jane M. Byrne Plaza during the Democratic National Convention in August. A judge this week will decide whether an alternate route is acceptable.
Xavier L. Tate Jr., 22, was taken into custody without incident shortly after 7 p.m. following a “multi-state investigation” that involved the Chicago Police Department and “many other” law enforcement agencies.
