Gratitude to Paul Varnell
I am very saddened to learn that Paul Varnell’s column will no longer appear in the paper.  Paul is one of the first people I met after being appointed Mayor Washington’s liaison to the LBGT communities and since then his friendship, his advice, and his talent have been things for which my appreciation has never stopped growing.

Through his columns and in our conversations he has greatly expanded the horizons of my thinking with his own seemingly limitless store of knowledge, referrals to fascinating writing by classic and contemporary writers (and on many occasions a trip to the dictionary as well.)

His poltical voice, I think, is an invaluable reminder that the communities are not monolithic, and that has served to poke us liberal types when (and where) we need it to keep us thinking and aware of the fact that there is always more than one way to view things.  I’ll miss his personal voice as well; his columns filled with irony, humor and empathy are every bit as thought-provoking as his work in the arts and politics.

Be well, Paul, and thank you.

- Katherine Duffy
Chicago

Cold Shoulder from the Greens, Gay Liberation Network
In September, with encouragement of friends, I decided to run as a marriage equality candidate for Cook County Clerk in the upcoming primary.  I thought the best way to do this was to run on the Green Party ticket because of their pro-marriage equality plank.  I have gone before their slate-making body asking for their acceptance and obliged them with numerous references, personal endorsements and community contacts.  I have collected nearly 700 petitions signatures in a short period of time in an attempt to get on the primary ballot.

For all its touted support for marriage equality, Illinois Green Party has stubbornly refused to lend such a candidate as myself any support whatsoever, let alone accept me on the ticket.  There are no other Green party candidates running for Cook County Clerk in the primary.  I have stated consistently during my campaign that as clerk I would push the envelope on same-sex marriage by ordering my staff to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  Just as adamant has been the leadership of Gay Liberation Network in putting pressure on the Green Party to thwart this pro-gay marriage candidate’s campaign.  Is it that my threat to start issuing same-sex marriage licenses if I get elected too much for GLN or its leadership let alone the Green Party to take?

Whatever the reason, the bottom line is that the Green Party has been dragging its feet in terms of supporting a candidate who has a strong background in the support of marriage equality.  It seems clearly a case of all talk and no walk.  Moreover, GLN has always touted itself as strictly an activist group, not an organization whose leadership busies itself with electoral politics.  As a result, hopes for this candidate have been dashed, but not the struggle for equal rights.

I think it would be great for a youthful and energetic, pro-marriage equality group like Join The Impact to put up a candidate from its own ranks to run in the general election in November of 2010.

- Craig Teichen
Chicago