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LGBTQ+ Policy Agenda

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As Mayor, I will be a fierce advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, as I have been all of my life.

Reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ rights are inextricably linked through the right to privacy, bodily autonomy and the right to live authentically building families without criminalization or discrimination.As Mayor, I will work with LGBTQ+ communities to expand services and protections against discrimination, in criminal justice and in health. As Mayor, I will:

Through Public Leadership

  • Publicly oppose efforts that seek to diminish the rights of and control the lives of LGBTQ+ people in Illinois
  • Ensure that the needs of LGBTQ+ people are considered in policies and decisions regarding housing, healthcare, the economy, public safety, and other issues at the intersection of identity.

At City Hall:

  • Appoint a Deputy Mayor (DM) focused on Gender Equity & the Economy
  • Support and expand the Hire Trans Now program and work with trans and gender diverse individuals to reduce systemic barriers to finding employment
  • Ensure accountability towards LGBTQ+ Chicagoans: support and staff LGBTQ+ Advisory Group, originally established by Mayor Washington, to ensure that community leaders are at decision making tables
  • Commit to achieving parity in ensuring LGBTQ+ representation in my administration and the City’s boards and commissions
  • With stakeholder input, update all policies that regulate how trans and gender diverse people are treated
  • Require cultural competency training for public facing city workers including healthcare providers, first responders, police, etc. (cultural competency includes a broad array including Latinx, Black, Asian, LGBTQ+, disability, immigrant communities, etc.)
  • Support policies that reduce stigma against LGBTQ+ people, in particular trans and gender diverse individuals
  • Factor LGBTQ+ rights and identity when addressing equity and health equity
  • Establish cross-departmental/agency collaboration to better address the quality of life, safety, and rights of the Chicago LGBTQ+ community

At the Chicago Police Department

  • Ensure police accountability, transparency, and training regarding the treatment of LGBTQ+ people, in particular trans and gender diverse individuals
  • Prioritize investigations in the cases of violence against trans and gender diverse individuals
  • No tolerance for CPD officers with ties to white supremacists, anti-LGBTQ+ groups
  • Convene a working group comprised of trans and gender diverse leaders to update CPD’s current policy regarding the treatment of transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming persons.

With respect to services:

  • Funding to support patients, their families, and healthcare providers who come to Illinois to seek or provide reproductive and gender affirming healthcare services
  • Provide information through 311 hotline regarding resources for gender affirming care and other healthcare needs of LGBTQ+ persons
  • Ensure resources for healthcare needs of LGBTQ+ people beyond HIV
  • Convene stakeholders to identify affordable housing needs and solutions for LGBTQ+ persons, including LGBTQ+ older adults
  • Ensure resources for mental health services for LGBTQ+ communities in particular for LGBTQ+ youth.
  • Increase investments in trauma-informed housing, emergency shelter, mental health and community-based services that meet the unique needs of LGBTQ+ persons At the Chicago Department of Health
  • Revisit/revamp Healthy Chicago 2025 to better address the LGBTQ+ community and their needs
  • Establish an indicator of either safety, well-being, and/or health of LGBTQ+ rights along the lines of the Chicago Health Atlas
  • Grow/increase access and sustainable funding for HIV prevention and treatment (including PrEP/PEP)
  • Convene and work with health care systems (hospitals and FQHCs) as well as community members to provide better access, care, treatment, and safety of LGBTQ+ Chicagoans