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The Daily Northwestern Friday, February 27, 2015
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City reflects on gay marriage anniversary By JULIA JACOBS
the daily northwestern @juliarebeccaj
Evanston issued the most same-sex marriage licenses of Cook County suburbs in 2014, which is credited to the city’s diversity, progressive culture and close proximity to Chicago, said Mark Muenzer, the city’s director of community development and LGBT liaison. Evanston issued 142 marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Cook County’s first year of legal same-sex marriage, according to a report released Feb. 18 by the county clerk. “I’ve spoken with same-sex couples in Evanston, and they like being in Evanston because they know that there are other same-sex couples,” Muenster said. “They often have children and want to be in an environment where having parents of the same sex is supported.” Ald. Mark Tendam (6th), the city’s first openly gay alderman, said the progressive nature of the community as well as the high quality of schools and other public amenities have made the city a magnet for LGBT couples moving north from Chicago. “I don’t know any gay couple or lesbian couple in the city that isn’t part of a neighborhood and isn’t warmly received by neighbors,” Tendam said.
The election of two openly gay city officials, including Tendam and Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board member Richard Rykhus, also sends the message that Evanston is an accepting city, Tendam said. In 2014 Evanston was one of only two Illinois cities analyzed, the other being Chicago, to score a 100 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index system. Some of the qualities reviewed included nondiscrimination laws, relationship recognition, employee equality and fair law enforcement. In November, Evanston appointed Muenzer as its LGBT liaiThis son after city is a part of staff realized the process the lack of the position towards full was holding equality, it back from a p erfect towards lived score from equality. the HRC. The EvanMichael Ziri, ston Police public policy Department director for appointed its Equality Illinois own LGBT liaison in December 2013. Since the county clerk was cleared to issue marriage licenses in Illinois at the end of February 2014, 6,508 same-sex
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Top Suburbs for Same-Sex Couples by marriage licenses issued couples have married in Cook County, the clerk’s report said. The state has issued at least one license to a couple living in every Chicago zip code except two, and 113 out of 127 of the suburban Cook County municipalities. “It shows that the LGBT community is everywhere,” said Michael Ziri, the director of public policy for Equality Illinois, the state’s largest advocacy group for the LGBT population. “They’re our neighbors, they’re our friends, they’re our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. … This is a part of the process towards full equality, towards lived equality.” There was an instance in LGBT history when Evanston proved even more progressive than Chicago, Tendam said. In 1988, Chicago City Council passed a human rights ordinance protecting lesbian, gay and bisexual people from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodation, but Evanston was the first city in the state to extend those protections to transgender individuals in 1997.
Panel clarifies NU’s drug policy By EMILY CHIN
the daily northwestern
Students for Sensible Drug Policy held a panel Thursday to clarify misconceptions around Northwestern drug policies. Tara Sullivan, director of student conduct and conflict resolution, joined University and Evanston police officers at the event. Weinberg junior Caroline Naughton, co-president of SSDP, led the discussion. She explained that one of SSDP’s main objectives is a “know your rights” component. She asked panelists Sullivan, UP Sgt. Steve Stoeckl and EPD Officer Scott Sengenberger questions based on experiences students in SSDP have had with law enforcement. “We think it’s powerful for students to be able to spread this education to their peers,” she told The Daily. “If we
clarify some of the misconceptions, this will foster a healthier relationship and make law enforcement jobs easier. It’s a two-way street.” More than 20 students attended the panel, Naughton said. Panelists discussed the NU’s Responsible Action Protocol, which calls on students who are present in dangerous, drug-related situations to call 911, stay with the person needing emergency care and cooperate with University officials. “That you’re doing what you’re able to do to help the situation then you’re not held responsible for violations of our alcohol or other drug policies,” Sullivan said at the panel. Sullivan said the biggest misconception is the idea that University officials don’t use the protocol regularly, when in reality they use it all the time, she said. She also clarified that Evanston police aren’t required to follow the protocol. “That wouldn’t help you in a
determination of guilt or innocence,” Sengenberger said at the panel. “What that helps you with is a determination of responsibility, whether it’s a sentencing or a fine or something along those lines.” Another issue brought up during the panel was the amount of privacy students have in residence halls and off-campus housing. According to the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the government cannot search an individual without a search warrant. This includes the police but not the University, which is a private entity, Sengenberger said. The University housing contract gives resident assistants and Residential Life staff jurisdiction to enter and search a room, Sullivan said. “There’s a lot of rumors, there’s a lot of things that are done in practice,” she » See RIGHTS, page 9
Sophie Mann/The Daily Northwestern
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS University Police sergeant Steve Stoeckl, Evanston police officer Scott Sengenberger and student conduct and conflict resolution director Tara Sullivan discuss drug policy and police jurisdiction.
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Schaumburg: 43 Des Plaines: 45 Berwyn: 59 Oak Park: 119 Evanston: 142 infographic by Mandella Younge
“I think that lets people understand that we are engaged, we are progressive, we desire good people of all kinds to be here,” Tendam said. Tendam and his husband were
officially married in December, but the formality was mostly for tax purposes, he said. The couple was originally » See MARRIAGE, page 9
Biss: Debt could hurt child care centers By KEVIN MATHEW
daily senior staffer @kevinwmathew
State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) and representatives from the Childcare Network of Evanston and Illinois Action for Children said Thursday that the recent stoppage of state funds for child care centers will likely prevent local centers from taking on new families. The five speakers at Thursday’s panel discussion at the Wilmette Community Recreation Center agreed the demonstrated long-term impact of child care investment should be enough to convince lawmakers to reinstate funding. However, they said grassroots political pressure would be needed to keep services funded into the next fiscal year starting July 1. The audience of about 10 expressed skepticism that high profile politicians like Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan would value their opinion, but Biss was adamant that smaller voices mattered. “(State Sen.) Laura Fine (D-Glenview) votes for (Madigan),” he said. “And he’ll know from your address that Laura Fine cares about you.” The state has fully spent the available Child Care Assistance Program funds and will need to fill the $300 million gap to continue funding centers. State funding has stopped entirely, limiting local child care centers to federal funding that covers less than half the original CCAP revenue. Sessy Nyman, the policy and strategic partnerships vice president of Illinois Action for Children, said about 400 people attended an IAFC rally in Springfield on Feb. 19. She emphasized that grassroots movements can become strong if
people refuse to be intimidated by their opponent. “There’s energy in a crowd,” she told The Daily. “We wanted to get folks together to get that energy, to know they are in this fight together.” Childcare Network of Evanston executive director Andrea Densham said child care services are long-term investments in the community and the economy. Child care allows parents to maintain employment, healthy children and strong family relationships, she said. About 97 percent of the people CCAP supports are single parents, Nyman said. Biss traced the “incompetence” in Illinois history before and during the financial crisis of the late 2000s. Slow or minor solutions to Illinois’ woes hit the breaking point when the CCAP began the 2015 fiscal year with a $200 million deficit, which grew to $300 million by January 2015. State officials warned centers funding checks may come heavily delayed or potentially not at all. Centers plan to remain open, but without financial stability they will soon be forced to stop offering service to new applicants, Nyman said. Gov. Bruce Rauner has proposed deep cuts in the 2016 budget. However, Rauner promised boosts to education funding in 2016 and a quick solution to the current crisis that has stalled investment in children. His budget address on Feb. 18 instead focused on pension reform, public universities and local income tax funding, a move predicted by Evanston officials in January. “It appears that we are very close, literally days away, from a resolution. And every day counts,” he said in the address about the 2015 CCAP crisis. “Increasing » See CCAP, page 9
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