News & Commentary

I first met Tatyana a few years after the Wisconsin legislature passed the Inmate Sex Change Prevention Act – a cruel piece of legislation aimed at denying urgently needed healthcare to any transperson in custody in Wisconsin.

ACLU of Illinois’ LGBT and HIV Project Director John Knight appeared on the WBEZ program Afternoon Shift to discuss discrimination against transgender individuals in employment and other contexts. The discussion was generated by the case of Tamara Lusardi, a civilian Army employee who is also transgender, after she experienced discrimination in the workplace. According to a recent study by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National LGBTQ Task Force, 90 percent of transgender individuals report discrimination in the workplace. John Knight spoke about the ruling in Tamara's case and the challenges faced by transgender persons in our society:

The New York Times editorial board voiced in on the recent ruling in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that struck down bans on same-sex marriage in Wisconsin and Indiana on Thursday. Arguments were made last week as to why the states should be able to reinstate bans on same-sex marriage, due to a previous ruling that the bans were unconstitutional. The case in Wisconsin was brought with the assistance of John Knight, LGBT Project Director for the ACLU of Illinois. The Times editorial lauded Judge Richard Posner's opinion, in which he stated:

The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments regarding the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in Indiana and Wisconsin on Monday in Chicago. During the hearing, the states presented their reasons for reinstating bans on same-sex marriage in their states, which had been ruled unconstitutional in lower courts this past June. Their arguments were met with harsh, and at times disapproving responses throughout the hearing. In particular, Judge Richard A. Posner took issue with the defense of the bans in the name of "tradition":

Religious refusals are a growing threat in Illinois and across the nation. Each of us has the right to our individual religious beliefs, but the exercise of religious freedom does not include the right to impose our beliefs on others. The Supreme Court’s decision in Hobby Lobby – allowing employers to use their religious beliefs to justify denying employees birth control under their insurance – is just the most recent, public example of this threat; and, the Supreme Court GOT IT WRONG!

The Windy City Times has a great photo and short write-up of ACLU of Illinois Board Chair Jill M. Metz receiving the prestigious Edward J. Lewis Pro Bono Award from the Chicago Bar Foundation at their annual luncheon on July 15, 2014. Throughout her career as a renowned and experienced lawyer, Jill Metz has advocated for equality by litigating on behalf of LGBT people, and was inducted into the Lesbian and Gay Hall of Fame in 2006. That same year, Jill became the Board Chair of the ACLU of Illinois, having served on the board since 1999. 

Cross-posted from The New York TimesBy Dorothy J. Samuels

On the heels of a decision by a U.S. District Court Judge that found Wisconsin’s ban against same-sex marriage unconstitutional, 42 out of 72 Wisconsin county clerks began to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. More than 238 licenses were issued to same-sex couples in Madison and Milwaukee alone within hours of Judge Barbara Crabb’s ruling last Friday, in a case brought by the ACLU.  U.S. District Court Judge Crabb denied a request to stay her decision as the State appeals, and is expected to draft an order, with ACLU input, that will make Wisconsin the 17th state to acknowledge marriage as a right, entitled to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation.

The ACLU of Illinois lost a friend and supporter with the death of Paul Lutter on May 4, 2014. An attorney with Bryan Cave LLC, Lutter was an associate and then partner at Ross and Hardies from 1971-2003 and focused primarily on estate and tax law. Born in 1946, Lutter took pride in his family’s Chicago history noting that the Lutter Brick Company helped to rebuild the city after the great fire of 1875. A Phi Beta Kappa 1968 graduate of Carleton College, Lutter received his law degree from Yale in 1971.