Six Months In

From the desk of the CEO of Equality Illinois

Six months ago, I stepped into the CEO seat at Equality Illinois.

On May 17, it becomes official tenure. Half a year. Long enough to learn something. Not long enough to claim anything I have not earned.

So I want to be honest about how these six months have actually gone.

They have been about refining infrastructure. Strengthening the systems that hold this organization together so they are built to last beyond any leader, any administration, any season of pressure. Strengthening Equality Illinois so it can celebrate its 35th anniversary, 50th anniversary, and beyond. Strengthening the institution so the next generation of LGBTQ+ Illinoisans inherits one stronger than the one we hold today. That is the work I came to do, and it is the work I do every day.

The last six months have been about responding. To a Supreme Court ruling on Transgender Day of Visibility. To federal threats against Medicare and Medicaid coverage for our communities. To a political climate that has not let up since I sat down in this chair. We have stood up. We will keep standing up.

They have been about laying foundation. There is work coming this year that will deepen how we organize, who we reach, and what we ask of our communities.

But I have to tell you the other truth.

I cannot do this alone.

LGBTQ+ organizations across the country are under real pressure. Funding has tightened. The federal climate has hardened. Many of our peer organizations are having the hardest year of their existence. Equality Illinois is not exempt from any of that. We are navigating it. We are not pretending we are not.

The work continues anyway. Because Illinois needs us.

Whether you are in Pekin or Peoria, Carbondale or Rockford, this organization is yours. I have spent these six months listening to people across this state, and I have heard you. Whether you are a parent of a trans kid, a young person figuring yourself out, a small-town faith leader doing the right thing quietly, or a longtime advocate who has been in this fight for decades.

So here is my ask.

If you can give, join our Capitol Club. $100 a month makes you part of the engine that funds our policy work, civic engagement, rapid response, and presence in communities the rest of the country wants to forget.

If this isn't possible, smaller commitments matter just as much. What we are building runs on regular, recurring support from people who know this state belongs to all of us.

If you cannot give, show up. Advocacy Day is May 21 in Springfield. Stand with us at the Capitol. Show our legislators that the people are paying attention.

If you cannot make Springfield, use your voice. Call your state representative. Write your senator. Tell the people who hold our laws that LGBTQ+ Illinoisans are your neighbors, your family, your children, your friends. Public officials count those calls. They notice the silence too.

If you cannot do any of that today, follow our work. Share it with someone who needs to know we exist. Visibility is its own form of protection.

I am six months in. I have learned a great deal. The most important thing I have learned is that no CEO, no organization, no movement gets anywhere without the people who decide it is worth showing up for.

Equality Illinois has been worth showing up for since 1991.

It is worth showing up for now. Join us.

In service,