As the leading civil rights and civil liberties organization in the Land of Lincoln, the ACLU of Illinois works constantly to keep the public informed about the state of their civil liberties. The work we do in the legislature, in the courts, and in our communities is important, but there is no better defender of civil rights than an informed and engaged public citizenry. Knowledge is power.
Today, Governor JB Pritzker signed House Bill 1063 into law, which ends criminal penalties for those living with HIV in Illinois, effective immediately.
Last summer, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Superintendent David Brown both spoke publicly to highlight a 20-person CPD task forced assigned to monitor social media posts by residents of the City.
The statement below can be attributed to the ACLU of Illinois:
Pride month is a time to step back and appreciate the progress we have seen for LGBTQ+ people in Illinois—and to identity the urgent issues and harms still facing these communities.
Tania Cordova grew up in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood after emigrating from Mexico in 1985. As a transgender woman, Tania’s memories of the early 90’s are full of traumatic encounters with Chicago police. “I used to go to ‘Chicks’ — a trans nightclub — on Broadway and Clark.