News & Commentary

 As I look back at the attending the ACLU Advocacy Institute, only positives come to mind. The experience was marked by many an introduction to many new thoughts and ideas and insights from well-known acti

 Driving while Black continues to be a problem in Illi

The 2021 agenda of ACLU initiatives in Springfield was aggressive and far-reaching. We engaged legislators on initiatives ranging from advancing comprehensive sexual health education, to holding police accountable, and much more.

Today, Governor JB Pritzker signed House Bill 1063 into law, which ends criminal penalties for those living with HIV in Illinois, effective immediately. Illinois is now the second state in the country to take this crucial action after Texas.

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. Today, the Chicago Police Department is being sued in state court after refusing to share information about the publicly discussed program. 

The statement below can be attributed to the ACLU of Illinois: “Like all caring residents of Chicago, we share the shock and sadness at the recent gun violence and loss of life in the City. Our thoughts and condolences are with those killed or hurt as a result of this violence. A group of Chicago City Council members now are calling for action by the Mayor and Chicago Police to stem the shootings. In past summers, similar calls have been met with the implementation of ineffective policies, including police officers flooding Black and Latinx communities  –  often dressed in quasi-military gear  – and arrests of Black and Brown men. This same performative approach has been tried time and time again. And it has failed. Moreover, years of repeating these failed policies has contributed to biased and violent policing in the City and has destroyed trust between police and communities on the South and West sides. This could be a moment for fundamental change. Rather than simply repeating ineffective and alienating practices of the past, it is a moment for adopting evidence-based police strategies that actually address public safety problems, creating real avenues for community input into policing and investing in social services that reach the root causes of gun violence. In short, it is time to be bold and real – and to refuse the same old failed policies.  Leadership requires curiosity and the courage to admit that past approaches have been wrong. Simply flooding communities of color with militarized police and arresting people – strategies that do not change the arc of violence and drive wedges between the police and the community – is not leadership. We can do better.” 

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. Lack of access to stable housing affects so many people, and anti-LGBTQ+ housing discrimination has long been a barrier to the safety and welfare of queer and transgender people. And in the midst of an ongoing pandemic, stable housing is more important than ever.

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. The police would arrest everyone transgender anywhere near the club for solicitation.”She was taken to the Belmont police station and searched by male officers. “It was so scary an