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- Governor Quinn calls on House to Pass Marriage Equality Bill.
- IDHR collaborated with the Illinois Municipal Human Relations Association on its 2013 Annual Conference held May 2, 2013 at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center in Springfield. The conference, entitled Immigration and Discrimination: Issues and Opportunities, invited municipalities, commissioners, social service organizations, and concerned citizens to learn more about the challenges immigrants to Illinois face in employment and in housing. The expert panelists included Amalia Rioja, Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Pat Quinn; Amalia Martinez, Supervising Attorney for the Illinois Department of Human Rights; Alie Kabba, Executive Director of the United Africa Organization; Karla M. Altmayer, Equal Justice Works Fellow of the Illinois Migrant Legal Assistance Program; Leone Jose Bicchieri, Executive Director of the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative; Juliana Gonzalez-Crussi, Policy Analyst & Housing Outreach Coordinator of the Latino Policy Forum; and Deanie Brown, Associate Chancellor for Access and Equal Opportunity at the University of Illinois, Springfield. The Luncheon Keynote Speaker was Keith Chambers, Executive Director of the Illinois Human Rights Commission. In addition, a Commissioners’ Training Workshop was conducted by Mark Barthelmy, Human Rights Officer for the City of Decatur. Some of the topics discussed included the Governor’s strategies for welcoming new Americans, E-verify, Illinois migrant workers and sexual harassment, African Immigrants and underemployment, and gentrification and its disproportionate effect on immigrants.