Wealthy anti-gay mega-church reverend and State Senator James Meeks has already thrown his hat in the ring for the race to be Chicago’s next mayor, and I for one am already shaking in my sensible and seasonal boots.
Meeks is one of the biggest names in the race, and he’s looking to unite Chicago’s African American population behind him to pull out a win.
For gays and lesbians, however, Meeks is someone to watch very closely.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the organization that tracks and works to prevent hate and bias related crimes, Meeks is one of the “Gatekeepers,” a group of Chicago preachers seeking to erase the division between Church and State. It takes a lot to be on SPLC’s watch list–there are only a handful of official anti-gay hate groups on their list of hate groups nationwide and the Illinois Family Institute is one–for Meeks to get on that watch list should make us all very nervous he’s starting this early.
Meeks isn’t just anti-marriage. He supports stripping away even the most basic human rights for LGBT people, opposes employment protection, and has indicated if he is elected mayor, he would address existing protections for LGBT people (presumably to dismantle them) if he gets “bored.”
Yup, if he gets bored enough, he’ll keep busy by making our lives hell.
When asked recently on Fox about how he would deal with LGBT issues if mayor, Meeks said:
“Now if I were sitting around bored with nothing to do, that stuff might come up. But I expect to be so busy with schools, crime and budget problems during my first term that I wouldn’t have any time.”
Meeks’ record on LGBT rights speaks otherwise, however, as much of his evangelism has involved attacking LGBT people and demonizing our community–literally. He’ll likely move quickly to begin undoing rights gained during the Daley administration.
What do you think can be done to get Chicago’s faith leaders and African American community leaders to stand up and denounce Meeks’ hate and vitriol?
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Comments
There are going to be so many people throwing their hats in the ring for this election….it will be quite the circus, and such is Illinois Politics!
Does Meeks really have a chance in hell of becoming mayor? I don’t think so.
I wasn’t blessed with a Chicago address, but after Prop 8 (and the Target Traitors), nothing seems impossible. Looking at Chicago’s demographics is certainly not promising if he carries the evangelical and black vote. Maybe the mobsters that I have heard a lot about on the radio since Daley’s announcement will keep him out.