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A gay rights ordinance introduced in 1973 had been languishing in committee for a decade, while mainstream gay leaders waited for what they deemed would be “the right moment” to bring the bill up for a vote. They banked on the support of Mayor Jane Byrne–but the playing field changed after Byrne lost reelection in a three-way race between herself, Cook County State’s Attorney Richard M. Daley, and U.S. Rep. Harold Washington. After Washington became Chicago’s first African-American mayor in 1983, some gay and lesbian activists threw their support behind Washington’s progressive reform agenda, but others–along with their allies in the City Council’s anti-Washington bloc (led by Ald. “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak )–were holding off for an expected comeback bid by Byrne. Washington supported passage of the bill–in 1984 he became the first sitting Chicago mayor to appear at a gay rights rally, which I helped organize.
When the bill was rejected by the City Council in 1986, an angry community immediately set out to revamp and reintroduce the ordinance. A newly formed organization, Gay and Lesbian Town Meeting, spearheaded the campaign. Its leaders formed a winning strategy: combining grassroots organization with behind-the-scenes political maneuvering. When Washington died in 1987 and was replaced by interim mayor Eugene Sawyer, the Town Meeting leaders convinced Sawyer to support the ordinance, which he had previously opposed; the Town Meeting activists also courted the support of white conservative aldermen who had been foes of Washington.
