Homophobic alderman? Possibility stirs rage

Homophobic alderman? Possibility stirs rage
BY LAURA WASHINGTON
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
June 1, 2009
http://www.suntimes.com/news/washington/1600747,CST-EDT-laura01.article


The City Council may soon have its first openly homophobic alderman. If Mayor Daley decides to appoint the Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus to replace 26th Ward Ald. Billy Ocasio, Chicago's GLBT activists might go ballistic. Then again, they might just punt.
Ocasio, who has resigned his seat and has signed on as a top adviser to Gov. Quinn, has asked Daley to appoint De Jesus, senior pastor of New Life Covenant Ministries, to replace him in the Humboldt Park ward.

De Jesus, an influential evangelical minister with 4,000 church members, has taken stands and uttered words that infuriate many in the city's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

His megachurch belongs to the Assemblies of God sect, which believes that "homosexual behavior is a sin because it is contrary to God's created order for the family and human relationships."

De Jesus opposed the proposed Pride Campus, a high school that would cater to GLBT students, telling the Booster newspaper, "What about that girl who is a virgin, who is being harassed by lesbians and guys to have sex, and yet you're going to build a gay school?" he said. "It's not fair."

The possible appointment has unleashed a torrent of behind-the-scenes hubbub and hand-wringing. GLBT activists and leaders are pushing back.

"The mayor has been made aware of the concerns of our community," said 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney.

As the city's only openly gay alderman, Tunney said, it is his "responsibility to make sure that the mayor knows about the concerns," which he has shared with Daley's staff.

"I think some of his rhetoric is pretty hateful," Tunney said, adding, "Our community feels pretty strongly about it."

Carlos Mock, a Puerto Rican gay activist and Uptown resident, penned one of several angry letters published in the May 27 Windy City Times.

"I am appalled and completely oppose that such a person could represent me in any city business," wrote Mock, a board member of Equality Illinois, a GLBT rights group. "I encourage every pro-choice and pro-gay member of the 26th Ward to write to Mayor Daley and complain."

On Friday Rick Garcia, Equality Illinois' director of public policy, wrote that "we have serious concerns" about De Jesus. In an interview, Garcia told me, "We are very inclined to oppose his appointment because of his public statements about gay people, our civil rights and our relationships."

De Jesus denies that he is a homophobe and says his personal and religious beliefs won't impact his public service.

"As an alderman, my job [would be] to uphold the Constitution of the United States," he told me Thursday. "It is a separate issue, and I want it to stay that way. I continue to say that for the 26th Ward, I will support and fight for everyone's rights, whether they be gay or straight."

Ocasio and others defend De Jesus as a champion for children and families, the homeless and others among the disadvantaged.

Daley "has received numerous calls and letters" about the aldermanic vacancy, spokesman Lance Lewis acknowledged, but has made no decision.

We'll see.

De Jesus, 44, is a mayoral appointee to the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals with City Hall clout. The GLBT community relies on Daley for city funding, endorsement and legitimacy. They have to do a delicate dance, criticizing the mayor on pivotal issues, while retaining their access to City Hall.

When decision time comes, I'm betting the GLBT honchos are more likely to stroke, than poke, the mayor (with a sharp stick).

Whomever the mayor picks, the City Council confirms. That has happened more than 30 times during the Daley reign. Tunney himself was a Daley appointee. Would he vote for De Jesus? I asked.

"I haven't made that decision," Tunney said. "I hope I don't have to make that decision."