Oppose Cardinal George's Anti-Gay Bigotry on Freedom to Marry Day 2012 - 2/12/12

In Opposing the Right to Same-Sex Marriage, Catholic Leadership Opposes Laity and Wider Public

Cardinal George Falsely Pits LGBT Rights Against "Liberty of the Catholic Church"

GLN permalink 1-26-2012

On Sunday, February 12, please join in a protest against Cardinal George's anti-gay bigotry - 10:30 AM in front of Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State Street, Chicago. Support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender equal rights!

Clerical Bullies Who Try to Limit Rights of Others Now "Victims"?

*** Writing in the January 15th issue of the official Archdiocesan newspaper, Chicago's Cardinal Francis George said he had "fear" that the so-called "liberty of the Catholic Church" is under attack.

As easily the single largest, and arguably most influential religious denomination in Chicago and Illinois, any notion of a "threat" to the Catholic Church here is patently absurd. What is true is that Cardinal George and the Church leadership internationally have used their considerable influence to try to stop civil rights for LGBTs.

*** In Rome in a January meeting with the diplomatic corps, Pope Benedict XVI condemned same-sex marriage as a "threat to humanity" and decried "policies aimed at marginalizing the role of religion in the life of society, as if it were a cause of intolerance."

No one is talking about the government forcing the church to celebrate same-sex marriages or other equal rights for LGBTs and women in the Church, any more than forcing the church to re-marry divorcees. What we are saying is that we will no longer allow religious bigots to determine the laws by which people of other faiths (or no faith) observe.

*** After the passage of the civil unions bill in Illinois, George pompously predicted, "I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square."

This gaseous, inflated rhetoric is the telltale language of clerics in retreat. They know that their parishioners are not with them, and neither is the wider public. With support for their anti-equality beliefs slipping, George and other church leaders cast themselves as "victims" and appeal for pity and acceptance on that basis.

It is a tired tactic we have seen before. What makes it so cynical and disingenuous is that these same highly placed and still-influential clerics deny the misery that their guilt-inducing rhetoric has caused.

Furthermore, not content to fulminate from the pulpit, they ignore their tax-exempt status and enter the political arena to try to influence legislation.

Cardinal George, for example, has opposed every advance for LGBT rights in Chicago, in Cook County, and across the state – largely without success. Unfortunately, he has had more luck helping our enemies win victories in California and Maine, where anti-gay bigotry defeated marriage equality, at least for the short term.

• George attempted to kill LGBT inclusion as a "protected class" in the Illinois Human Rights Act, which now protects us from housing and employment discrimination.
• George opposed similar Cook County protections and the county's domestic partnership registry.
• George and other Catholic bishops circulated petitions in a failed effort to force an advisory referendum on "gay marriage."
• George vigorously opposed the Illinois Civil Unions Act, which is now law.
• George has blessed the Illinois Catholic Conference's effort to kill the passage of full-fledged same-sex civil marriage rights in the state.
• George, as head of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, spent big money backing the anti-gay referendums Proposition 8 in California and Question 1 in Maine,.

Polls show that a majority of Catholics in the pews back LGBT rights. It is the hierarchy of the church that is out of step with the membership for which they falsely claim to speak.

We call upon Catholics, and all other people of good will, to join us in our demand for full legal equality in Illinois and nationwide. Join us on Freedom to Marry Day 2012:

10:30 AM
Sunday, February 12
735 N. State Street
Chicago

This protest was initiated by the Gay Liberation Network, and Dignity Chicago and the Chicago Rainbow Sash Movement have endorsed it, and Equality Illinois has agreed to support it with publicity. For more information email the Gay Liberation Network at LGBTliberation@aol.com

Facebook event: Oppose Cardinal George's Anti-Gay Bigotry - 2/12/12 http://www.facebook.com/events/222265764531615/

Chicago's Cardinal George recently got himself in hot water by comparing gay rights demonstrators to the KKK, then defending that comment on at least two occasions subsequently, before finally saying "sorry" in a short note posted on the Archdiocesan website. Joe Murray of the Catholic LGBT organization Rainbow Sash and Bob Schwartz of the Gay Liberation Network discuss their different takes on George's apology and how the church leadership has ranged itself against LGBT and women's rights. Originally broadcast January 13, 2012

Bradley Manning Exposed War Crimes & Helped End The Iraq War

"If Bradley Manning had committed war crimes, not exposed them, he would be a free man today." - Marjorie Cohn

"By exposing some of the worst atrocities committed by the U.S. Forces in Iraq, the documents prevented the Iraqi Government from agreeing to give our soldiers immunity, which is what Obama wanted, to continue the war rather than end the war, and therefore... If Bradley Manning is guilty of what he is accused of, he is also guilty of helping to end the Iraq War." - Marjorie Cohn

Originally broadcast September 9, 2011
Leaders of the G8 ("Group of 8") nations, generally the wealthiest in the world, will hold a summit in May 2012 in Chicago, along with the heads of the NATO military alliance. The meetings represent the single biggest confab of war-making leaders in many years, and if past meetings are any indication, a focus for 10's of thousands of protesters. Long-time anti-war activists and GLN members Bob Schwartz and Andy Thayer discuss why people should actively oppose the forthcoming G8 and NATO summits in Chicago.

Click here for All posted GLN News pages

Click here for All posted GLN In The Press pages

Adbusters Wants 50,000 G8/NATO Protesters in Chicago

By Lisa Balde and Phil Rogers | Thursday, Jan 26, 2012 | 5 NBC Chicago - LINK

GLN permalink 1-26-2012

The activist group that helped initiate Occupy Wall Street is rallying troops for a "big bang in Chicago" ahead of the G8/NATO summits this May.

In a statement issued Thursday, Adbusters called on 50,000 people to descend on the city to "set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades" and join Occupy Chicago for a month leading up to the May 15-22 summits expected to draw 7,500 officials.

"With a bit of luck, we'll pull off the biggest multinational occupation of a summit meeting the world has ever seen," the statement read.

"And this time around we're not going to put up with the kind of police repression that happened ... nor will we abide by any phony restrictions the City of Chicago may want to impose on our first amendment rights. We'll go there with our heads held high and assemble for a month-long people's summit ... we'll march and chant and sing and shout and exercise our right to tell our elected representatives what we want ... the constitution will be our guide.

And when the G8 and NATO meet behind closed doors on May 19, we'll be ready with our demands: a Robin Hood Tax ... a ban on high frequency 'flash' trading ... a binding climate change accord ... a three strikes and you're out law for corporate criminals ... an all out initiative for a nuclear-free Middle East ... whatever we decide in our general assemblies and in our global internet brainstorm - we the people will set the agenda for the next few years and demand our leaders carry it out.

And if that doesn't happen? Adbusters promises flash mobs in the streets, the shutdowns of campuses and corporate headquarters, and making "the price of doing business as usual too much to bear."

"We want to get within sight and sound of the G8 and NATO conference," said protest organizer Andy Thayer. "If people can't hear you, what good is the first amendment?"

It almost goes without saying that whatever happens, it will test the mettle, and restraint, of protesters and police alike.

"Certain people want to be arrested," says Debra Kirby, the Chicago Police Department's Chief of International Relations. "When you violate the law, we will accommodate you. You will be arrested."

In a way, they are the two opposing bookends of the big event in Chicago on the third weekend in May. Thayer, the pro-forma face of the opposition, insists the predictions of violence are overblown. He said familiar scenes like those of the chaos at the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle, were the fault of police, not protesters.

"Norm Stamper, the former chief of police, wrote a whole book about how the city screwed up," said Thayer. "Stamper said the overwhelming amount of violence in that case was caused by the police department themselves."

Thayer insisted that suggestions of mayhem, and calls for downtown businesses to prepare for the worst are nothing but hype; if there is trouble in Chicago's streets, he said, the mayor and police will be responsible.

"We've got police blogs that are now bragging about how they're going to violate people's rights here," he said. "Do we hear Debra Kirby, or other officials saying this is absolutely wrong, we've got to stop this kind of conduct?"

In a week where still another multi-million dollar payout against police was approved, Thayer predicted the conference in May could get expensive.

"This city's going to be on the hook for millions of dollars, post NATO/G8, because it doesn't control its own officers," he said.

For her part, Kirby rejected those suggestions, and said she is going to great lengths to make certain that her officers know the boundaries of what kind of protests are allowed, and when those protests become scenarios where arrests are necessary.

"We've equipped our officers with a full understanding of the law and what is happening within the current landscape around First Amendment protest and activity," she said.

She added:

"We have enlisted heavily in training our officers, and allowing them to understand that sometimes they are there to have verbal abuse thrown at them."

Indeed, said said she sees hers as a twofold mission, facilitating protests and keeping the peace.

"Certain activities that are engaged with, by what I'm going to say are criminal activists, as opposed to protesters, have certain traits and similarities, and that's what we're training our officers to look for," she said. "For the officers that we anticipate will be on the front line, they are receiving over 40 hours of training."

It would appear that right now there is very little common ground. Kirby said she is determined to balance the rights of the protesters to get their message out, against the needs of the rest of Chicago and the protection of her officers. Thayer said he finds it ironic that some fear violence from his fellow demonstrators, considering others who have been invited to attend.

"We're talking Vladmir Putin of Russia, who's cracking heads in Moscow right now," he said. "You want to talk about violence? Why are these people coming to Chicago?"

This week, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce president warned stores along State Street and the Mag Mile to add additional security and allow employees to work from home.

City officials fought that sentiment during a press conference the next day, saying they plan to use the summit to showcase the city, saying "this is not 1968."

But there already have been rumblings about protester frustration with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's handling of First Amendment rights. Some anti-G8 protesters have even said they'll sue the city.

In response Emanuel backed off this month on proposed increased fines for those convicted of resisting arrest. But the City Council approved other measures last week despite loud shouts from protesters.

Adbusters on Thursday didn't appear to be backing down. In closing, the activist group called for protesters to "pack your tents, muster up your courage and prepare for a big bang in Chicago this Spring."

Emanuel has said Chicago is working with the Secret Service and Federal Security Planning teams to establish an official protest area where the City "will provide sound amplification equipment, portable toilets, and other resources for protesters who wish to use it."

G-8 protest organizer agent of 'change' or 'pain in the butt'?

BY KIM JANSSEN Staff Reporter kjanssen@suntimes.com - LINK
January 16, 2012 5:44PM
Updated: January 16, 2012 11:33PM

GLN permalink 1-16-2012

Andy Thayer, is a key figure in the upcoming G8 protests and a veteran protestor for many causes, including gay rights and anti-war. | Tom Cruze~Sun-Times

Andy Thayer's co-workers are running an office pool.

How long until he gets arrested?

Most of us would take offense, but Thayer is one of the guys authorities most expect to cause trouble at the G-8 and NATO summits in May. To him, it's a badge of honor.

"I'm staying out of it," the veteran activist says with a laugh of his colleagues' teasing.

Battle-hardened after more than 30 years as the megaphone-carrying face of non-violent Chicago street protests against everything from police brutality to Wall Street greed to the war in Iraq, the media-savvy 51-year-old rarely stays out of anything for long.

In the last two weeks alone he's had the better of public spats with Cardinal Francis George, who apologized for comparing the gay rights movement to the Ku Klux Klan, and with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who admitted he'd understated the scope of proposed laws targeting protesters.

In the next two weeks Thayer is due to be a witness in a federal civil rights lawsuit that challenges the Chicago Police Department's handling of a 2003 anti-war protest, and to be a noisy antagonist in the City Council's vote on Emanuel's proposed protest restrictions.

Police critics mock him as a publicity hound who'd call a rally to protest a parking ticket.

But ever since President Barack Obama announced that the G-8 and NATO will meet in Chicago, Thayer has been meeting almost daily with dozens of other activists to plot a demonstration they hope will draw a coalition of tens of thousands of protesters from across the globe during the May 19-21 summit. As the author of a protest permit application that seeks to march the crowd to within a few yards of the world's leaders at McCormick Place, he's likely to be thrust into his brightest spotlight yet this summer.

Emanuel has repeatedly said that protestors' First Amendment rights won't be compromised by the security needs of the summit and that he has no interest in a 2016 presidential run.

But Thayer - who has a history degree - says he and other protesters plan to use a lesson they've drawn from the clashes outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention that damaged Mayor Richard J. Daley's national reputation.

"The 1968 DNC destroyed Hubert Humphrey's chance of becoming president," he says in the cluttered West Town office that he's decorated with an Arab Spring-inspired Egyptian flag.

"The G-8 is Obama's homecoming and Rahm's national coming out party. Rahm hopes it will be his springboard to the 2016 nomination. We want them both to pay the highest political price for bringing the biggest collection of fraudsters, banksters and warmongers ever to meet in Chicago."

Lifelong dissent

If the specter of 1968 looms over the upcoming summit, Thayer's a little too conventional for the role that hairy counter-culture icon Abbie Hoffman played in that drama.

Thayer prefers the fitted T-shirts, sensible glasses and neat haircut that befit a middle-aged gay man whose day job is office manager for the law firm Loevy & Loevy. He's quick to agree that he's only one of many organizers, and that G-8 NATO protestors will march for a plethora of causes, including an "Occupy" coalition that emphasizes collective action over individual leadership.

For all that, his whole life might have been building to this moment.

Raised in a small town in upstate New York by his father, who designed missile parts, and his mother, an activist who secretly helped Vietnam draft dodgers escape to Canada, he was a misfit from the start.

His mother's commitment to "take risks for what she believed in" left a mark, he says. By the age of 17, he'd written articles exposing corruption, articles that upset his teachers so much that they closed the high school newspaper.

It was in Chicago that his activism flourished. Enrolled as a journalism student at Northwestern University in 1978, he was sent to cover a protest at the gates of ComEd's Zion nuclear power plant. Instead he joined in and was arrested and charged with trespassing and eventually was acquitted by a Lake County jury, which found that the protesters' actions were necessary to prevent a greater harm to the public.

The experience was "exhilarating and scary," he says.

Thayer took a hiatus from Northwestern when he came out of the closet - he now lives in Uptown with his partner - but became a campus leader upon his return, protesting against the school's investments in apartheid South Africa.

By the 1990s he was a leading voice against police brutality and for the Gay Liberation Network, which he co-founded.

He's since been arrested for everything from demanding gay rights in Moscow to attempting to stop President George W. Bush's motorcade in the Loop. Convicted of misdemeanor resisting arrest in 1989 and again in 2005, he had three other minor cases thrown out, and was cleared of more serious charges of aggravated battery of a police officer in 2009 after video evidence undermined the case against him.

He's taken on beloved conservative institutions - the Chicago Boy Scouts Council lost most of its funding from United Way in 2001 after Thayer led protests against the scouts' policies on homosexuality - but also infuriated elements of the left, including other gays angered by his support of the deported Muslim cleric Rabbih Haddad.

But it was his leading role in the raucous anti-Iraq war march of March 20, 2003, that may offer the best clues into how he'll react in the heat of the moment this May.

2003 clash

The freewheeling protest, in which 10,000 demonstrators without perrmits followed Thayer and other leaders onto Lake Shore Drive, blocking traffic hours after the U.S.-led bombing of Iraq began, has faded from popular memory.

But Thayer isn't alone in his estimation of its significance.

"That was the first time since 1968 that an anti-war demonstration got out of control on the city's streets," says retired Deputy Supt. Jim Maurer, who was Chicago Police's Chief of Patrol at the time. "They literally overran the police lines."

Police claimed they'd negotiated an ad hoc deal with leaders of the march to avoid the Drive, but Thayer and other protesters denied it. At least 540 were arrested, though only 351 were charged and most had their cases dropped. Nine years later, it's still an open wound between police and protesters, who brought a federal civil rights case that's set to go to trial later this month.

One former top Chicago law enforcement official whose run-ins with Thayer include the 2003 protest, angrily describes him as "self-serving - not as interested in the cause as he is in attention for himself."

But both Maurer and Pat Camden, who was then the Chicago Police spokesman and now represents the Fraternal Order of Police, view Thayer with a mixture of amused contempt and grudging respect. "He always wanted to be arrested, and we often accommodated him," says Maurer, who describes Thayer as a "gigantic pain in the butt for law enforcement."

"Like the mosquitoes that are all over the place when you go on a fishing trip," is how Camden describes Thayer's role in our democracy. "They're always there and they never go away - he's certainly persistent."

Both concede that Thayer is not violent and has a right to make his point. "You have to take him seriously because he's tried to provoke the police department on many occasions," Maurer said. "He provokes like-minded people who want to cause trouble."

In their view, police exercised considerable restraint in 2003 and will do so again during the G-8.

Thayer, who says the Chicago Police Department has "an international reputation for brutality," drew a different conclusion. Police's failure to control the 2003 crowd spooked the White House enough that it decided not to hold the 2004 G-8 in Chicago, he believes, crediting the protest as "a great success."

Though he blames police for the violence at the 1968 convention and the "Battle of Seattle" at the 1999 World Trade Organization summit, he also acknowledges that civil disobedience played a role in both, as it did in 2003.

He expects non-violent civil disobedience in May's protests, which he says Chicagoans should feel safe enough to bring their children to. The 2003 protest offers a model of how the mayor might lose the street at a peaceful event, he suggests.

It was the protesters' energy, not their numbers, that made the difference in that case, he says. "I've been in marches of 300,000 that were flat, but the air was electric that night," he said. "We knew we wouldn't stop the war, but we told President Bush, 'You ignored our voices, now you’ll have to ignore our bodies.'"

99 versus 1

Thayer hasn't voted for an electable national candidate in decades. He scoffs at the idea that the G-8 nations of the U.S., Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada and Russia are truly democratic and believes that "meaningful change only comes up from the street and the grassroots."

He points to a range of issues, from the North American Free Trade Agreement's effects on Mexican farming through the trillions of dollars spent on NATO's war in Afghanistan to the closures of schools and libraries in Chicago, as reasons why people should show up to May's protests. For him, they're all connected.

Simply put, he says: "This is the 99 percent versus the one percent who start all wars and rule in their own interests, the wealthiest one percent who live in palaces while holding the rest of us down."

Predicting just how many heed that call is difficult. The Seattle protests attracted a minimum of 35,000; just a few thousand demonstrated at this year's G-8 in Deauville, France; while at least 400,000 marched through downtown Chicago for immigrant rights in 2006.

Thayer's application for a parade from Daley Plaza to the western boundary of the summits' location, McCormick Place, predicted only 5,000. But organizers seeking to calm authorities' fears and preempt claims of failure have an incentive to set a low bar. Privately, they say they'll be disappointed if tens of thousands do not take to the streets.

By contrast, Police Supt. Garry McCarthy's comments that 13,000 officers are training for mass arrests, and Emanuel's attempts to increase restrictions and possible fines on protesters are designed to scare away the everyday Chicagoans who would make the bulk of any large crowd, according to Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an activist with Communities United Against Foreclosure and Eviction.

A diverse group of similar left-wing groups, including Iraq Veterans Against The War, the Committee To Stop FBI Repression, Students For A Democratic Society and the Chicago Network to Send a US Boat to Gaza, are among those regularly meeting to organize the protest. Protesters from across the nation, from Canada, the U.K. and Germany are also coordinating. But the size of the crowd may depend in large part on how actively the unions get involved in an election year action against a Democratic president they helped elect.

It also remains to be seen whether immigrant rights activists can convince their community that the G-8 is a worthwhile target. Past actions against the G-8 have been overwhelmingly white.

Harder still to predict are the intentions of hard-line anarchists, who have little respect for Thayer and the leftist coalition. Anonymous chat about a minority forming a lawless "black bloc" within the main body of the march - as happened in 1999, when anarchists dressed in black smashed stores in downtown Seattle - is rife on anarchist websites. In a sign that police are taking the risk seriously, officers were recently requested to report the locations of anarchist graffiti across the city.

Thayer admits the responsibility he and other activists feel to mobilize a successful protest "keeps me awake at night."

But if Chicago wants to know if there will be trouble when the G-8 and NATO hit town, he's remaining coy.

"It depends how you define 'trouble,' " Thayer grins. "Rahm Emanuel's idea of trouble might just turn out to be a lot of people's idea of fun."

Chicago grants 1st parade permit ahead of G-8, NATO

Associated Press Wire Report
Friday, January 13, 2012

GLN permalink 1-13-2012

CHICAGO — Chicago officials said Jan. 12 that they approved the first parade permit to protesters ahead of meetings set for May of the leading industrial nations and sought to quell critics' concerns that proposed changes to city laws will step on demonstrators' First Amendment rights.

The back-to-back G-8 and NATO summits will be held in Chicago May 19-21 — the first time in more than three decades a city has hosted both meetings — and tens of thousands of protesters are expected to greet the expected 7,500 delegates from up to 80 nations. Costs for the event could reach $65 million, officials said.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's challenge is to keep order and showcase the city to the world, while also allowing protesters with varying agendas to have a voice. Top aides to the mayor promised Jan. 12 that the city would protect protesters' freedoms and even go so far as to provide plenty of portable toilets and sound amplification systems to them.

"As the city of Chicago issues permits for these events, we stand is strong support of the applicant organizations' First Amendment right to protest," Emanuel said in a statement.

At an unusual briefing for reporters held Jan. 12 at City Hall, officials and the head of the summit host committee released more details about planning for the gatherings, which have drawn massive and unruly protests elsewhere. But much remains uncertain, including the official site of many summit events and U.S. Secret Service security perimeters.

Details such as road closures and parking restrictions may not be known until two to four weeks before the event, said Frank Benedetto of the Secret Service's Chicago field office in a statement.

The host committee and the city have estimated the summits could cost $40 million to $65 million and would be paid by donations from the private sector and federal funds, not by local taxpayers. Officials would not release fundraising goals.

The briefing came days before two Chicago City Council committees were expected to consider proposed security measures related to the NATO and G-8 summits. On Jan. 12, city officials said they've revised some of those proposals to respond to critics worried about infringements to First Amendment rights.

For example, they are dropping a proposal to raise the maximum fine for a violation of the parade ordinance and eliminating a requirement for parade marshals for every 100 participants. They are leaving the time of a parade at two hours and 15 minutes, instead of cutting it to two hours.

Another proposed ordinance would give the Chicago police chief the power to deputize trained law enforcement officers from other states to help with security, close public parks for two hours longer than usual each day, and speed up certain procurement requirements to deal with last-minute purchasing needs.

So far, two groups have submitted four requests for permits for protest events, and Emanuel's office announced the approval of the first such permit Jan. 12. It went to the Coalition Against the NATO/G-8 War and Poverty Agenda, also called CANG8.

City officials said Jan. 12 that they'll approve two other permits soon, one for a rally planned by CANG8 and another for an event planned by National Nurses United, the nation's largest nurses union. A fourth permit request, also from the nurses group, will be denied because it conflicts with CANG8's Daley Plaza event, officials said, but they'll work to find the nurses an alternative site.

The Secret Service will oversee security for the summits and may designate security zones that impact the protest permits. If that happens, the mayor said, the city pledges to work with protesters to find other rally sites and protest routes.

The mayor's promise wasn't enough for activists. Protest leader Andy Thayer said Jan. 12 that the city's pledge of an alternate route if the Secret Service plans a security zone for the approved route is an unacceptable "escape clause."

"We reject the notion that the Secret Service should reject permits that have already been approved," Thayer said in a statement.

Gay rights protest is held despite cardinal's apology

Handful of activists demonstrate outside cathedral

By Erin Meyer, Chicago Tribune reporter - LINK
12:01 a.m. CST, January 9, 2012

GLN permalink 1-9-2012

Despite an apology from Cardinal Francis George for recently likening the church's clash with the gay rights movement to the anti-Catholicism of the Ku Klux Klan, a handful of gay rights activists demonstrated outside Holy Name Cathedral Sunday, saying his contrition wasn't enough.

"It is totally inadequate," said Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network, referring to the statement posted on the archdiocese's website Friday night. "When it came time to issue an apology he chose the most passive manner to do it. ... I would say it to his face."

George's controversial comments, broadcast on Fox Chicago TV, came in response to a question about whether next summer's gay pride parade would disrupt morning services at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in the Lakeview neighborhood.

"You know, you don't want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism," George told two Fox News reporters in an interview that aired on Christmas. "So I think if that's what's happening, and I don't know that it is, but I would respect the local pastor's, you know, position on that."

Three gay rights organizations had planned a protest outside Holy Name during the midday mass Sunday. They called off the protest after George issued his apology Friday.

"We asked for an apology, and we got an apology," said Joe Murray, executive director of the Rainbow Sash Movement, a group of gay and lesbian Catholics who believe they should receive Holy Communion. "From our perspective, it was a heartfelt apology."

Nick Costello, 41, a member of the Knights of Columbus and a parishioner at Holy Name, defended the cardinal to protesters Sunday.

"I think his apology was aimed at the hurt it caused," Costello said. "There is plenty of angry rhetoric (in the gay rights movement) directed at the cardinal."

emeyer@tribune.com
Copyright © 2012, Chicago Tribune

Gay Catholics Plan Protest Against Cardinal Over Comparison to Ku Klux Klan

Updated: Wednesday, 04 Jan 2012, 7:49 PM CST
Published : Wednesday, 04 Jan 2012, 7:46 PM CST

FOX Chicago News - LINK

GLN permalink 1-4-2012

Chicago - Gay Chicago Catholics plan to protest against Cardinal Francis George on Sunday over comments he made on FOX Chicago News comparing gay activists to the Ku Klux Klan.

Gay Catholics Plan Protest Against Cardinal Over Comparison to Ku Klux Klan: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

The group Rainbow Sash will join with Equality Illinois and the Gay Liberation Network for a noontime protest on Jan. 8 at Holy Name Cathedral (730 N. Wabash).

On Dec. 21, Cardinal George talked with FOX Chicago News about the route for the 2012 Gay Pride Parade, a route that would have taken it by a Catholic church on a Sunday morning during mass.

"You don't want the Gay Liberation Movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism," the Cardinal said.

Since then, some gay activists have demanded that the Cardinal resign.

( Chris Walker, Chicago Tribune / January 3, 2012 )
Activist Andy Thayer, organizer for a group protesting the May G-8 and NATO meetings in Chicago, leads the way to apply for a parade permit application at City Hall.

Rahm Emanuel on duration of NATO-G8 rules: 'I made a mistake. Real simple, OK.'

By Fran Spielman City Hall Reporter fspielman@suntimes.com January 3, 2012 1:40PM LINK

Updated: January 3, 2012 10:34PM

GLN permalink 1-3-2012

Andy Thayer, representing the "Coalition Against the NATO and G8 War & Poverty Agenda" (CANG8) applies for a parade permit for May 19, 2012 to march from the Daley Plaza to McCormack Place. He is helped by Tieesha Rhoden, Asst. Commissioner Michael Simon and Susan Pawlak. Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - Brian Jackson~Sun-Times

Mayor Rahm Emanuel made an admission on Tuesday: He "made a mistake" when he claimed that extraordinary security measures he proposed to handle protesters who descend on Chicago for the NATO and G-8 summits would be temporary and repealed after the events are over.

The mayor's about-face apparently means the only thing temporary about the changes will be the power to purchase "goods, work or services" needed to host the May 15-22 event at McCormick Place without City Council approval.

But the other changes will be permanent. They include: dramatically higher fines for resisting arrest; more surveillance cameras; parks and beaches closed until 6 a.m.; sweeping parade restrictions and higher fees for those events and empowering Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to "deputize law enforcement personnel" and forge cooperative agreements with a host of state, federal and local law enforcement agencies.

That's not what the mayor said last month when he introduced the changes at a City Council meeting. At that time, he emphatically stated that the changes he sought were "temporary," "one-time only" and "just for this conference."

"I made a mistake. Real simple, OK? I thought when I answered the question, I was answering the question about contracting, OK? So, if I made a mistake, I bear the responsibililty," the mayor said.

As he did last month, Emanuel flatly denied that the sky-high fines and 6 a.m. park and beach opening signaled an attempt to muzzle what's expected to be an international onslaught of protesters.

In Seattle, about 35,000 people protested a World Trade Organization meeting in 1999 and caused more than $2 million in damage to businesses. There were violent clashes between protesters and police in Pittsburgh during a G-20 summit in 2009.

"First Amendment rights will be protected. Public safety will be also protected, and I don't see the two in conflict at all," the mayor said.

That's not what the protesters were saying before applying for a permit to stage a massive May 19 march from Daley Center plaza to McCormick Place.

They demanded that Emanuel roll back the changes or risk waking up the ghosts of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

"I'm a veteran of 1968. I was one of the organizers when the whole world was watching, and I see some unfortunate parallels here," said political consultant Don Rose.

"The more pugnacious the city behaves, the more pugnacious they can expect as a response. This can be done peacefully. But mass repression appears to be on the threshold, and the city should be well beyond that by now."

Andy Thayer, a spokesman for the Coalition Against the NATO G-8 War and Poverty Agenda, branded Emanuel "Mayor One Percent" and argued that the mayor "lied" when he said the changes would be temporary — not permanent.

Thayer offered as Exhibit "A" a proposed parade ordinance tailor-made to stifle all manner of public expression.

"Every single protest in the downtown area would be considered a 'major parade' with a whole series of ridiculous stipulations," he said. "Every single piece of sound equipment would need to be registered with the city a week in advance. You can't predict who's gonna show up with a bullhorn. They are also insisting on a full lineup of [participants] a week in advance.

"This does not just affect G-8 and NATO protesters. Everyone who's got a beef with the city or a private employer in this town is gonna be affected by this ordinance. They need to take this very seriously and say, 'We do not want to go back to these ridiculous restrictions and thuggish behavior in response to protests.' "

Thayer said he expects the city to deny the permit, setting the stage for a court fight.

Cardinal George challenged to debate at Center on Halsted

News update posted Dec. 29, 2011

by Kate Sosin, Windy City Times LINK

GLN permalink 12-29-2011

A Catholic LGBT leader has challenged Chicago Cardinal Francis George to a debate, after the cardinal compared the Pride Parade to a Klu Klux Klan gathering repeatedly in recent days.

Joe Murray, the executive director of the Rainbow Sash Movement ( RSM ) invited the archbishop to face off at the LGBT Center on Halsted on a day and time of his choosing.

In a statement, released by the RSM, the organization commends George for removing a message in which he compared the LGBT Pride Parade to a KKK protest from the Archdiocese of Chicago website.

George's message was his third public reference to the KKK in relation to the Chicago Pride Parade recently, after revisions to the parade route and time threatened to interrupt Sunday morning services at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Lakeview.

"When the pastor's request for reconsideration of the plans was ignored, the organizers invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church. One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan which, well into the 1940's, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus."

Parade organizers and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church came to an agreement approximately two weeks ago, after organizers agreed to push the start time of the parade back to noon.

George, however, reiterated his comments on Dec. 27, only to remove the statement from the page amid controversy.

"We want to encourage the Cardinal to now apologize for using an ill-advised metaphor of comparing the gay liberation movement to the KKK," RSM said in a statement. "The Cardinal only trivializes the history of Catholics being discriminated against in the past by making such an unreasonable association."

Windy City Times attempted to contact George after he initially told Fox News Chicago that he feared the Pride Parade could mirror the KKK in protesting Catholics. According to a Susan Burritt, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Chicago who responded to the inquiry on Dec. 28, "Cardinal George is on vacation and unavailable for comments."

Also out of the office this week is Father Thomas Srenn of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, who did not respond to requests from Windy City Times to comment on the cardinal's comparison. According to his voicemail, Srenn will return to work after Dec. 31.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church is home to Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach , and Srenn said that his request to move the start time of the parade was not due the content of the parade, but rather the difficulty it created for worshippers attending church that morning. Srenn declined to comment on George's recent remarks when asked last week, but said that the compromise with Parade organizers satisfied the church's request.

Direct-action LGBT group Gay Liberation Network ( GLN ) voiced opposition to the Cardinal in a letter sent to Windy City Times. The organization has protested George in the past on Valentine's Day as part of National Freedom to Marry Day actions.

"We know that the Catholic laity are often supportive of LGBTs and our rights while the church leaders are not, and this is both threatening to the latter and a challenge," GLN wrote. "Their attacks against us are just as much an effort to win support from their parishioners as they are to score points against our movement."

As in past years, GLN will protest outside of Holy Name Cathedral on Feb. 14.

Gay rights group calls for Cardinal George to resign

Wednesday, December 28, 2011
ABC7News LINK

GLN permalink 12-28-2011

December 28, 2011 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Once again, Cardinal George has attempted to clarify remarks he made about gays and the Ku Klux Klan, which have only served to keep the controversy going.

The cardinal's original comments involved next summer's gay pride parade and whether it would interfere with services at a Lakeview Catholic church. He compared the possible interference with Catholic worship to KKK parades last century.

Over the weekend the cardinal attempted to clarify. He said then it is absurd to compare gays and lesbians to the Klan, and he added he was only comparing parades to parades, not people to people.

Now the cardinal has released another statement saying, "The organizers invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic church. One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan, which, well into the 1940's, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus."

Wednesday afternoon, the Gay Liberation Network said it is outraged at the comparison and called for the cardinal's resignation.

Equality Illinois responded to George with a statement: "The Cardinal is making this a political issue as a last-ditch effort to quash the progress that the LGBT movement has made in recent years."

Group rallies against proposals to increase fines for protesting

Delal Pektas | Dec. 22, 2011
WBEZ 91.5 LINK

GLN permalink 12-22-2011

A group protested at Chicago's City Hall today to rally against some proposals from Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Those proposals are aimed at NATO and G-8 protestors who will be in town in May. They include increasing fines for those who are arrested for protesting.

Andy Thayer opposed the measures and said these proposals threaten an individual's right to assemble.

"People have made note of the very dramatic increase in penalties. For example, resisting arrest - what is interpreted as ressisting arrest - things like simply going limp," Thayer said.

The proposal still needs approval from the City Council. If passed, the fines for resisting arrest could be increased to $1,000.

VICTORY! City drops charges against a lead organizer of anti-war march

GLN permalink 12-7-2011

Yesterday afternoon we learned that the City of Chicago has dropped the charges against Chicago CodePINK Pat Hunt for two alleged ordinance violations she got at the October 8th march on Obama 2012 Headquarters on the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

Pat Hunt

Pat's next court date was to have been today, but that is now CANCELED -- so please help spread the word to anyone you think might have been showing up in solidarity.

Officers apparently targeted Pat as she had signed the permit application on behalf of the Midwest Anti-War Mobilization.

Asked by the administrative law officer as to why they were dropping the charges, the attorney for the City, Scott Sachnoff, said it was because he couldn't schedule the arresting officer to appear in court. "And?," asked the administrative law officer. Note that for proceedings in this court, the burden of proof for the state is so weak that arresting officers do not have to appear.

Our pro-bono National Lawyers Guild attorney, Jeff Frank, asked Sachnoff afterwards for more reasons as to why the City was dropping the charges. Sachnoff responded that it was because Pat didn't actually commit the infractions that were the flimsy basis for the charges -- she didn't temporarily affix a banner to a statue, and she didn't push the sound cart which was supposedly an unauthorized "vehicle."

Jeff Frank (foreground)

Frank told Sachnoff that the City has to knock off these BS charges, as using flimsy alleged ordinance violations as a cover for harassment is a 1st amendment violation. Sachnoff responded that "You know, this is just practice for G8/NATO."

Many thanks to both Pat Hunt and Jeff Frank for not backing down, and for standing up for the rights of all us!