Joe Walsh Was Proud Of Being Gay-Friendly And Pro-Choice In 1996

Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives during the 2010 Tea Party surge, and since then he has become a unswerving conservative, offering the most outlandish of right-wing rhetoric possible, like when he suggested using an alligator-filled moat to end illegal immigration.

He also uses his brand of hyperbolic politics to denounce LGBT equality and rights and recently suggested that children raised by same-sex couples are more likely to be impoverished drug addicts.

But things were different in 1996. The Windy City Times today published remarks Walsh made during his failed 1996 campaign to unseat progressive incumbent Rep. Sidney Yates. Walsh at the time had an 89% on HRC's congressional rating system, which is good.

In one interview, Walsh described himself as the most gay-friendly GOP politico around. "If there's a more gay-friendly Republican around, I'd like to meet them," he said.

And a report from journalists Trudy Ring and Shamara Riley outlined Walsh's once gay-friendly, pro-choice and pro-government platform:

Walsh also has indicated he would support gay rights, but [progressive rival Yates has taken a leading role on the issue for many years. ... Walsh, endorsed by Log Cabin, said he would support ENDA and other federal gay-rights legislation, and would be willing to co-sponsor it. Like Yates, he opposes restrictions on gays in the military.

He supports maintaining current federal funding for AIDS-related programs and would favor an increase 'depending on how much money there is to go around for other diseases'; believes the federal government should 'lead an education offensive' to fight AIDS; favors reforming Medicaid but supports maintaining mandatory coverage for people with HIV/AIDS. He is undecided on same-sex marriage. He supports abortion rights in the first trimester; opposes federal funding of abortions; and supports increasing federal funds for research on breast cancer. He is undecided about federal affirmative action programs.

All of these points have been stripped from Walsh's current political platform. For example, he voted against ENDA, is a zealous pro-life warrior in Washington and Walsh, currently running for reelection against Democratic Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth, has an HRC ranking of zero.

Jawan Wright's Family Says Anti-Gay Bullying Led To Shooting: VIDEO

Chicago police are describing the fatal Friday shooting of 18-year Terrance "Jawan" Wright as a robbery. According to them, five men approached Wright, a senior at Banner Academy South, and tried to rob him. Wright fought back and one of the men shot him in the chest. He died soon after.

Wright's family, however, say it's more complicated than a robbery: Wright had just transferred to Banner after being bullied in and out of his old school for being gay; the bullying followed him and they believe it's homophobia, not petty crime, that led to his death.

"I believe they only did that to him because he was gay," Wright's 16-year old brother, Javone, told the local CBS affiliate. A cousin, Kenyatta Rogers, drew a similar conclusion: "They had to kill my cousin because he was gay. That’s crazy."

His grandmother also pointed the finger at homophobia, telling WGN, "I was told the boys were picking on Jawan, Jawan was on his way home and the boys just started picking on him and calling him names so they tried to take Jawan’s book bag. So then Jawan and the boys got to fighting.”

“That’s when police say one of the boys pulled out a gun and killed Jawan," she said.

The family is now asking Chicago police to investigate Wright's death as a hate crime. Two people are reportedly being questioned, but the department is not remarking on whether anti-gay attitudes played a role in Wright's murder.

Watch video of both the CBS and the WGN reports AFTER THE JUMP.

Chicago Archbishop Celebrates Anniversaries By Hating On Gays

Keeping it classy, Chicago Archbishop Francis George used a speech meant to celebrate the 50 year wedding anniversary of over 400 couples by blasting marriage equality.

Marriage "comes to us from God," rather than the government, he said, before using his Biblical perspective to lay out a discriminatory definition of the marital union: "Marriage is what it is, what Jesus said from the beginning: Two in one flesh, for which man leaves his family and joins himself to his wife; and wife leaves her family, and joins herself to her husband."

George went on to claim that equality-minded political leaders like Gov. Pat Quinn should be finding methods other than marriage to recognize same-sex relationships, the local CBS News affiliate reports:

There must surely be ways in our civil society, where we can honor friendships, where we can respect other people, without destroying the nature of marriage. It is very important, for your whole lives, give witness to what marriage truly means. And while civil laws might change –– if they do — then society will be the worse for it.

And surely some of the people celebrating their anniversaries with George yesterday were worse off for his speech.

Arrest Made In Stabbing Of Prosecutor Who Saved Gay Couple

An unidentified prosecutor from Illinois' Cook County became a hero earlier this month when he successfully stopped two men from beating up a gay couple. Unfortunately, said prosecutor was beaten and stabbed in the line of duty.

Now that he's on the mend, however, Chicago police say they have identified and arrested one of the alleged assailants, 21-year old Edgar Diaz, and charged him with attempted murder.

From WLS:

A man has been charged Sunday with attempting to murder a Cook County prosecutor who tried stopping an assault on two apparently gay men earlier this month in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, police said.

Edgar Diaz, 21, of the 5600 block of West Grand Avenue, was charged with two counts of aggravated battery in addition to one count of attempted murder, according to a statement from police News Affairs.
…
Diaz and the other man allegedly attacked the prosecutor after he yelled at them in an attempt to prevent a physical attack, officials said.

They slashed or stabbed the prosecutor multiple times, including cutting his face, right side and arms, state’s attorney’s office spokeswoman Sally Daly said.

Police said the victim was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center with "non-life-threatening injuries."

Diaz will appear in court today.

Chicago's Moreno Says Cathy 'Muddied' Chick-Fil-A's Gay Progress

Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno is confused, and rightfully so.

Thanks in part to Moreno's efforts, fast food franchise Chick-fil-A last week vowed to stop funding any political groups, especially anti-gay groups it backed in the past. Then, two days later, homophobic company CEO Dan Cathy tweeted support for a discriminatory group, a move Moreno says "muddied" the debate.

"[That tweet], at the least, muddied the progress we had made with Chick-fil-A and, at the worst, contradicted the documents and promises Chick-fil-A made to me and the community earlier this month."

More from CNN:

[Moreno] said the executives confirmed to him that both the foundation and the company in 2012 has not given money and will not give money to those groups.

Cathy's conflicting statement, Moreno said Sunday, is "disturbing."

"I am simply asking Mr. Cathy to confirm statements and documents that HIS company executives provided to me," Moreno said in a written statement, capitalizing "his" for emphasis.

"It's pretty simple, Mr. Cathy. Do you acknowledge and support the policies that your executives outlined to me in writing or do you not? Yes or no?" the statement added.

Chick-fil-A's offices are closed today, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow for a comment, and then probably another day before Cathy totally contradicts it.

Chick-fil-A Promises to No Longer Donate to Anti-Gay Organizations

Chicago LGBT rights group The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA)  and Alderman Proco 'Joe' Moreno (pictured, below), who in July said he wouldn't allow Chick-Fil-A to open a restaurant in his Northwest Side ward because of the company's anti-gay worldview, issued a press release yesterday that said they had been working with the restaurant chain and that it had agree to no longer donate to anti-gay organizations such as NOM and Focus on the Family.

TCRA's press release follows:

In a letter addressed to Alderman Moreno and signed by Chick-fil-A’s Senior Director of Real Estate, it states, “The WinShape Foundations is now taking a much closer look at the organizations it considers helping, and in that process will remain true to its stated philosophy of not supporting organizations with political agendas.”  In meetings the company executives clarified that they will no longer give to anti-gay organizations, such as Focus on the Family and the National Organization for Marriage.

Additionally, they have sent an internal memo to franchisees and stakeholders that stated that, as a company, they will “treat every person with honor, dignity and respect-regardless of their beliefs, race, creed, sexual orientation and gender,” and that their “intent is not to engage in political or social debates.”  This statement was placed into an official company document called “Chick-fil-A: Who We Are.”

“We are very pleased with this outcome and thank Alderman Moreno for his work on this issue,” said Anthony Martinez, executive director of The Civil Rights Agenda. “I think the most important part of this outcome is that Chick-fil-A has ceased their donations to anti-gay groups in 2011 and going forward. With some of the groups that they were donating to being classified as hate groups, and others actively trying to halt the movement toward full civil rights for LGBT people, Chick-fil-A has taken a big step forward.  We are encouraged by their willingness to serve all people and ensure their profits are not used to fight against a minority community that is still trying to gain full and equal civil rights.”

“Although we are encouraged by their internal statement, we still would like for the company to adopt an anti-discrimination policy at the corporate level,” said Rick Garcia, policy advisor for The Civil Rights Agenda. “It is one thing for a company to say they respect everyone they serve and employ, it is quite another for them to put that into their policies and demand that all employees adhere to that behavior.  As we have heard from gay employees that work for Chick-fil-A, there is a culture of discrimination within the company and we would like to ensure that employees can speak out and call attention to those practices without fear of reprisal. It takes time to change the culture of any institution and steps like a corporate policy ensure that progress is made.”

The Chicago Tribune adds:

Though Moreno said he scored a "big win," the company made nearly identical pledges in a July 19 Facebook post that went up even before Moreno took issue with Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy's opposition to gay marriage.

The statement of respect also falls short of Moreno's goal of adding language opposing discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to the company's employee handbook.

UPDATE: TCRA is erroneous in its assertion that Chick-fil-A's money went to NOM and Focus. Equality Matters has a helpful guide to where the WinShape Foundation's money did go, and there are plenty of anti-gay groups which received it.