CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Across Lake View, drag billboards are scattered on street corners as part of a “Just Say LGBTQ+” campaign, which organizers said represents a new human rights campaign — and highlights how far the LGBTQ+ movement still has to go.
“Having a transgender child is both a beautiful but a very challenging experience,” said Shimmy Braun.
Shimmy Braun, a senior vice president of mortgage lending at Cross Country Mortgage, is the man behind the billboards. His ex-wife and son currently reside in Florida — where state lawmakers recently passed a ban on gender-affirming care, which would strip parental rights from parents who support their transgender children.
“There’s over 400 pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation around the country, and there’s Ron DeSantis, the one that’s spearheading all of this,” said Braun.
He added that his “Just Say LGBTQ+” campaign is in response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The campaign includes billboards with local drag queens and national stars, including Willow Pill of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The goal of the campaign is to create a more welcoming housing environment throughout the state of Illinois, but Braun added that there’s more to “Just Say LGBTQ+” than raising awareness.
Braun, along with a dozen other mortgage loan officers across the state, began donating $100 of every home loan closed during Pride Month to support the work of Equality Illinois. He said his team plans to continue its donations through August 2023.
“Equality Illinois is at the forefront in the state of LGBTQ+ legislation,” Braun says, “They’re the ones that really pushed for gay marriage to be legalized and for various laws that do protect transgender people,” Braun said.
Equality Illinois bills itself as the state's oldest and largest advocacy organization dedicated to defending rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Illinoisans. Braun said he anticipates — based on his team's closings — to hit $10,000 to donate to the organization.
“In housing, in many states you are allowed to say no to a gay couple that comes to your house to look at it because they are gay,” he said.
Illinois is one of only 23 states that has housing nondiscrimination laws, which protect LGBTQ+ people from being unfairly evicted, denied housing, or refused the ability to rent or buy housing on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Braun said he’s seen many people come to Chicago to flee housing discrimination and have a safe haven to be themselves.
“I do speak with people who are leaving other states, or other parts of Illinois, to come to Chicago because they are having a hard time there,” he said.
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