batavia’s first openly gay alderman doesn't want to be its last.
batavia’s first openly gay alderman doesn't want to be its last.
I spoke with Alderman Dan Chanzit about a historic night on the Batavia City Council.
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My suburb made history last week. Then again, it also kind of didn’t.
To kick off its June 7 meeting, the Batavia City Council formally approved a proclamation from Mayor Jeff Schielke officially naming June as Pride Month in the city.
The proclamation, the first of its kind in the city’s history, was read by 3rd Ward Alderman Dan Chanzit. Following the proclamation’s approval, Chanzit commented that he almost didn’t run for public office back when he was first appointed to the council in 2010 for two reasons: a marijuana bust in college, but secondly because he had a husband at the time.
Chanzit went on to describe “deep shame” around his sexual orientation and a desire to mostly keep it to himself for fear of being accused of pursuing a “gay agenda.” He said that changed when he learned of the experiences of LGBTQ+ youth struggling with their sexuality when the Naperville nonprofit Youth Outlook came to speak to the City Council during the Pride Month the previous year. Hearing from that group, Chanzit said, caused him to “[find] my voice because I was truly being my authentic self.”
While that might sound like a coming-out speech, Chanzit says that the actual one took place a year before, when Youth Outlook spoke before the council. So this is really a year-old headline.
“I had kind of [come out] the year before but nobody heard it,” Chanzit told me over drinks at Sidecar Supper Club last weekend. “I said in my speech so quietly — I wish I could have been louder — that I went out and bought the pinkest tie that I could today and to the gay kid who is out there listening, it does get it better, and just so you know, there are gay people in town. They are firefighters or policemen. There’s teachers, and there’s even a 3rd Ward alderman. I thought that was enough but nobody heard me say it! I wasn’t trying to underline it, but I said it and the people that were listening got it. The people that didn’t care didn’t say anything, and it just kind of fell flat, and I was fine with that. That’s the reception I should have received: Who cares.”
Still, for a small city like Batavia, Chanzit’s coming out — both times — does feel significant, at least to me. Prior to this year, visible queerness of any kind has been few and far between in B-Town, let alone an out elected official. To our knowledge, Chanzit is the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve on the Batavia City Council.
Days after the meeting, I spoke with the alderman about his decision to speak out last Monday, and where Batavia stands as far as a town that is LGBTQ+ friendly. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
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Sometimes (OK, rarely) certain issues on the City Council can get a bit heated. Were you concerned ahead of last week’s meeting about more vocally coming out or speaking up around the Pride proclamation?
The City Council has very little to do with national politics. There are very few national things that we handle. Most of it is city ordinances, it is community development, it is economic development, neighbor-to-neighbor kind of stuff. Honestly, your sexuality has very little to do with the decisions that we make. And then I vote on a Pride proclamation and that one does. So when I sat and I weighed that out what the actual job was, I was like, Well, I don't have to be the gay alderman if I don’t want to be. I could just be an alderman. And I was one for 10 years. And at the end of those 10 years, I made my own proclamation. And I'm hoping that my votes and my record that my representation speaks for itself. I think it did, because the number of phone calls, emails and texts I got after I did that convinces me that I made the right choice. That running [for public office] was a good idea, and that no one has run against me is kind of gratifying. It’s also anti-climactic because I always wanted to have a debate of something, to truly debate the issues, but not once have I had to do that. I take some pride in that.
But I guess the bottom line is that when this next election comes along — which I have not decided if I’m running again, though I’m probably running… I like this — if someone throws their hat in the ring and says, “I’m running against him because he's gay,” that is going to be an unpopular position. So I don't feel threatened by that. I really don’t, because I I'm glad to debate that single issue alone. If you're running against me because I'm gay, then you have a bigger problem and you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what municipal politics are. You're going to run against me for the one out of 1,000 things I voted on that my sexuality mattered for? Just wait, just wait until you talk about the million-dollar sewer budget. Wait until you get to that and you will quit because you’ll be so bored by that.
Even being here just for the past five years, looking around and seeing all the Pride flags and all of the events, I’ve been really surprised how big Pride is this year here. What about you?
I was not expecting it. Things changed a couple of years ago when Aurora did theirs. I think that was kind of a really important weather balloon for this area. I know that there was some concern over what the Aurora pride parade was going to turn into them or what it was going to bring. And it went off well, it went off really well and it actually brought a lot of people to town in a really positive environment.
I think all the municipalities around this area looked at that and went, “Okay, wouldn't be the worst thing if a parade happened here.” it really wouldn't be. I mean, the stereotype is that we have a ton of money, because we don't have kids (in general) and then we spend money and that we're loyal. So having a Pride parade, essentially, is an economic engine for a community. I hate that that’s a thing too, but that’s a thing.
Right, there’s the economic argument and also the decent-human-being argument. It all still feels a little surreal to me this year, though, but maybe it shouldn’t.
It shouldn't be. And I think that probably five years from now, 10 years from now, you will look back and recognize because as this younger generation keeps getting older, it's the people under age 30 who don't know why people over age 50 have a problem. That is refreshing to me, because this generation moves out. It makes people who have a problem with it that much more of a minority and they sound like an angry old man saying, “Get off my lawn.”
The Pride Month proclamation is great and the Pride flag is awesome, but are there other things on your mind in terms of how Batavia can be an even more welcoming place for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly folks within the community like trans folks and queer people of color vs. white folks like us who have it easier than so many others?
I would say, just speaking in general, you only have to be here for a few minutes to pick up on the vibe and recognize that it is a welcoming place. So there's very little that a city or the city leaders can do to effect change. We affect policies and set policies, but we also hire police officers who are compassionate. We hire the police chief who believes in putting resources on counseling, putting resources on crisis management stuff where our cop shows up to an escalated event. It doesn't have to be a guns thing. It doesn't have to be like that. We're putting our resources where they count, where differences can be made and you just feel that by living here and just feel that by being here.
As a city, we can do more education, we can talk about it more, and I think Batavia does this better than most all communities in in, in Illinois, especially in Northern Illinois. Mayor Schielke’s council meetings are set up on purpose the way they are. They are set up with the pledge of allegiance, we have a prayer, call our roll with our omnibus vote, and then he invites a parade of feel-good things. The Chamber of Commerce comes and talks about a brand new business or a business that has been here a while and joined the chamber. Presentations of positive, happy things, and then we get to the business. So, by doing that, we've set the tone. That's the tone at City hall that we are cheerleaders for for our own town. And that, I hope, should speak volumes that a City Council meeting is lots of laughter and lots of disagreement and discussion that ends with us being friends at the end of the night, no matter what we talked about. And if that's if that's no better example of leading by example, I can't think of one.
Is there anything else I missed?
I’m single! Everyone thinks I'm married, but I got divorced just like every other straight relationship. We get divorced too. With the number of people who have come up to me since [the meeting] and they’re like, “Oh, what's your husband's name?” Like, I’ve been divorced for five years! Yeah, back on the apps again.
For more recent coverage of queer folks in the western burbs, read my previous interviews with Batavia artist Annie Hex Aurora organizer Javi and the organizers of Geneva Pride. As always, comment, share and subscribe if you like what you read.
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Time for some links, bops and stray observations!
A mid-week QTB means slimmer-than-usual link pickings, but here we are anyway. As a reminder, QTB will be out of commission for the next two weeks, but will be back in the saddle in July. Talk then, and until then, keep it queer.
Here’s what I can’t stop thinking about this week:
Salma Hayek is in the midst of a press junket promoting a new action film she’s starring in (from LON-Don, baby). Somehow, most of the conversations she’s having keep winding their way back to her pet rescue owl, named Kerig (not to be confused with the coffee maker — missed sponsorship opportunity). According to her interview with [redacted] below, her pet owl often swoops around her bedroom, pecks at her head and attacks her toes in the middle of the night. I often find myself with so many unanswered questions about this woman’s life.
Fresh off her issuing of a sprawling apology for her Twitter-troll ways, Chrissy Teigen is currently at the heart of a cyberbullying scandal that this week expanded to include former Project Runway contestant Michael Costello and British singer Leona Lewis in what Jezebel has accurately dubbed “a bullying triangle.” Who will be sucked up into the Teigen cyclone next?!
ABC News and Hulu just premiered the long-awaited (by me) documentary The Housewife and the Hustler that digs into the many legal troubles that have befallen lawyer Tom Girardi and his high-rolling Real Housewives of Beverly Hills wife Erika Jayne.
The Girardis are accused of (allegedly) divorcing in an effort to embezzle funds that are intended for his former clients, including the families of victims killed in a 2018 Boeing plane crash. The documentary allows us to hear directly from the victims of this (alleged) con, and honestly it’s about time. Adding to the intrigue, one day after the doc dropped, Erika Jayne/Girardi’s attorney formally withdrew from representing her because their attorney-client relationship has “broken down” and is “irreparable.” I’m grabbing my popcorn and hoping these victims get the money they’re owed.
A Pride Month display in my old Chicago neighborhood of Andersonville is so breathtakingly gorgeous it’s getting all kinds of news coverage and attracting visitors from all over. In a nod to Cyndi Lauper’s iconic Pride bop, the display (found in the 1700 block of West Balmoral Avenue) reads “Don’t be afraid to show off your true colors” along with a 12-foot-tall paintbrush and a rainbow-hued path. Gorgeous. Check out Block Club Chicago’s report here.
Speaking of Pride bops, I’ve been finding myself unable to stop listening to Diana Ross’ “Take Me Higher” on repeat all month. A coworker chose the song to kick off a work Zoom event earlier this month and hearing it then reminded me of its pure, joyous and signature Ross spirit. Every time I hear it, it also brings me back to Ross’ iconic Super Bowl half-time show performance, which I don’t think we as a society spend enough time talking about. She literally left the stadium while hanging somewhat precariously out of the side of a helicopter! If you’ve never seen it before, I highly recommend you strap in and take in all 12 minutes now.