GCM June - On the Road to Justice

Feminist Thoughts
By Erica Chu

On the Road to Justice


My church (Broadway United Methodist) welcomes and celebrates gay, lesbian, straight, asexual, bisexual and any variety of sexual identities. Most churches are very segregated, but my church is intentional about fighting racism and working for a racially inclusive community. Most churches see only cisgender and able bodies, but every Sunday, the pastors welcome people of all genders and all abilities. You’d think as a church seeking justice, they’d arrived, but their theme for Pride Month is “On the Road to Justice.”

I like that. We’re on the road, but we’re not there yet.

Recently, I spent the day in one of the smaller suburbs. I felt strange walking around in public and feeling gawking or disapproving eyes when I stood too close to or looked too endearingly at my partner. It was jarring because I spend most of my time in places like Lakeview, Edgewater, Andersonville, and the Loop. Occasionally someone stares or makes a comment, but all in all, I feel free, I feel safe, I feel that for me, justice is within grasp.

Last summer, I marched with a few dozen activists in Joliet trying to give visibility to the LGBTQ population there. I also marched with the Dyke March Collective in Pilsen and will march with them again on June 26th in South Shore. It’s important to lend our support to those like us seeking freedom and safety in the places where they live. If we become satisfied with just our neighborhood, we’ll never reach justice.

More important even than fighting for justice for those like us is lending support to those not like us right in our own neighborhoods and communities. How often do we encounter racism, sexism, classism, transphobia, ageism, and outright meanness about body type, clothes, or mental ability? Sometimes people we know, our friends, maybe even we ourselves do or say something that inhibits the freedom and safety of someone else. Being on the road to justice means educating ourselves, lending support, and speaking up when injustice creeps into our lives and spheres of influence.

Too often our neighborhoods and even our Pride month seem more about brunch, bars, and dancing then about justice. Have we forgotten June commemorates a key moment along the road for justice? Today, the potential for walking that road still surrounds us.

This month, let’s be especially diligent in fighting against the ignorance that has and continues to oppress people of all kinds, colors, and shapes. The road to justice isn’t always easy or comfortable, but every step is a very necessary step in the right direction.


Erica Chu is a student at Loyola University Chicago and is seeking a PhD in English with a concentration in Women Studies and Gender Studies. She manages the blog keepingitqueer.blogspot.com and can be reached at ericachu@msn.com.