Harold Washington Library Recognizes Gay Veterans

LGBT veterans took center stage at the Harold Washington Library downtown Nov. 8 when the LGBT Pride Committee of the Chicago Public Library hosted American Veterans for Equal Rights as part of its Out & About series.

"There are a million gay veterans in this country," said Jim Darby (right), president of AVER Chicago. "When you're in the military you don't know who is gay, but gaydar works."

The LGBT Pride Committee's Christopher Popa hosted the discussion with Darby and other LGBT veterans. The Out & About series is intended to celebrate LGBT people and organizations that have made a difference in Chicago, and much of the discussion focused on how AVER Chicago's activism has led to LGBT veterans being included and recognized at veterans events to a greater degree perhaps in Chicago than in any other city.

"We are probably the most active chapter in the country," Darby said. "We are very fortunate here."

The group marches each year in the city's annual Veterans Day Parade and lays a wreath with other veterans groups each year at the Eternal Flame in Daley Plaza. The City of Chicago also has sponsored an annual salute to LGBT veterans in Daley Plaza for the past eight years and includes a representative of AVER on the Mayor's Advisory Council on Veterans Affairs.

Darby said the seeds of AVER go back to 1990, when six LGBT veterans attending the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's annual Creating Change Conference discussed the need for a national group to represent LGBT veterans. Among them was longtime activist Miriam Ben-Shalom.

"I had met Miriam and she told me about the organization," Darby said. "I asked who is running the organization in Chicago, and she leaned over and said, 'You.'"

The Chicago group has grown quite a bit since then, Darby said, and meets monthly at the Center on Halsted.

Darby served during the Korean War. He was drafted, he said, but never thought twice about saying "No" on the forms he filled out when they asked about sexual orientation.

"The fact that our country rejects American citizens who want to serve is unforgivable," Darby said. "We are like everyone else. ...The question shouldn't be asked."

Darby said the group began asking to be included in the city's official veterans events in 1993 and encountered initial resistance from some other veterans groups leaders. But after some discussion, and through the group's persistence, Darby was invited to serve on the veterans advisory council. Today, the council sponsors the city's annual salute to LGBT veterans, which includes a proclamation by the mayor.

"I think that event and the fact that we are in the Veterans Day Parade is a wonderful indication of the acceptance we've gotten today," said AVER member Patrick Bova.

AVER Chicago also hosts an annual Veterans Day dinner and helps LGBT veterans navigate the VA hospital system. Members also provide transportation to the VA for LGBT veterans who need it.

"The VA hospital system can be a little daunting and we can walk them through it," Darby said. "The VA here in Chicago is wonderful for gay veterans."

Darby and other LGBT veterans, not surprisingly, blasted the delay this year on repealing the military's ban on openly gay and lesbian personnel, as well as the Obama administration's 10-month study on whether and how to repeal the policy.

"The military does not do surveys," Darby said. "They tell you what to do and you do it."

Darby said people should recognize the sacrifices LGBT veterans, like all veterans, have made.

"I think they should say thank you for serving your country," Darby said. "Many of us were drafted. Some did not come back. ...Just simply to say thank you...to recognize the sacrifice."