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Loading ...Meet Deb Mell – running to be Illinois’ first lesbian legislator
Deborah Mell was expecting a peaceful event when she joined hundreds of demonstrators in downtown Chicago for a pro-gay marriage rally in March 2004.
Instead, things got rowdy, and Mell was arrested. A female police officer said Mell attacked her, and Mell was taken away in a paddy wagon.
Within 15 minutes her father, Richard Mell, a powerful Chicago alderman, came to her rescue—and soon found himself addressing some 300 polarized protesters on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate.
“I love my daughter Deb,” the alderman told the incensed crowd. “She believes fervently in a cause, and she stands for that cause—and I will support anybody who does that.”
Deb Mell was launched that day—and in November she is set to become the first open lesbian to serve in the Illinois general assembly.
A judge later found Mell not guilty on the charges of assaulting a police officer. The officer had claimed that Mell had gone into the street to attack her, but a videotape and witnesses proved her wrong.
“That woman was lying through her teeth,” Mell said. “I can’t believe that a police officer would do that under oath. I had just gone onto the street with my sign and then they grabbed me, and then they fell on top of me.”
In the end, though, getting arrested was one of the best things that happened to Mell, because it prompted her to become more of an activist. That same year, she won the NOW Chicago chapter’s award for activist of the year. She also received the Howard Brown Cornerstone Award for community excellence.
And this year, Mell’s candidacy earned the endorsement of the Victory Fund, whose research shows that gay candidates need twice the amount of financial resources of their straight counterparts to win office.
“When someone breaks a barrier, it takes more to let folks know, and more money is needed to prepare for attacks,” said Tressa Feher, the Victory Fund’s leadership network director. “Mell will definitely bring another chair to the leadership table.”
Illinois is a blue state, and with the support of her father and brother-in-law Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Mell is expected to win the Illinois house seat. She’s running against Republican Christine Nere-Foss – who’s not even bothering to run a campaign – and Green Party candidate Heather Benno for the 40th district in the Northwest of Chicago, where Mell was born and raised.
With a win, Mell will join Rep. Greg Harris, the only other openly gay legislator in the Illinois house or senate.
“With Deb in office, I will increase my caucus by 100 percent,” Harris joked. “As a gay man, I have my own perspective, and she will bring another point of view. She will also be the first open lesbian in the legislature, and it makes a big difference when you can talk
about how things affect you personally.”
Harris has known the Mells for quite a long time—”I’m embarrassed to even say how long,” he said. Mell has one sister, Patricia Blagojevich (Illinois’s first lady), and a brother, Richard Mell. Her mother Marge died in December 2006, and she lives with her partner Christin Baker, whom she met four years ago.
Harris thinks that thinks Mell will be a lot of help when it comes to gay issues.
And he will need it.
There is strong opposition in Springfield to gay marriage, including from (Gov.) Blagojevich, a Democratic governor. Right after Mell got arrested, he told the local NBC affiliate, “I believe in the current law that defines marriage as a man and a woman.” He has not changed his mind.
“He is still against it,” Mell said. “And I obviously disagree with him, and I’ve expressed my displeasure with the whole thing.”
Chicago has a domestic partner ordinance that allows same-sex couples to register with the county clerk’s office, but that does not convey any rights, benefits or privileges.
“The domestic partner registry means everything, but at the same time it means nothing,” said Rick García, political director of Equality Illinois.
“The fact that you are registered does not mean that you can visit your partner in the emergency room, or that you can make arrangements for his funeral either,” he said.
But at the same time there is hope in the land of Lincoln.
HB1826, a civil union bill that will give same-sex couples all the rights and obligations of marriage, will very likely pass this year, according to Harris—but he wants to make sure that enough supporting legislators will be in Springfield when he brings it to the House floor.
“We have just enough votes,” he said, “but I have to have a back-up in case any legislator leaves or does not show up that day.”
That back-up may very well be Mell.
Happily, Harris and Mell will have a friend on the civil union issue, if not gay marriage. Blagojevich told Mell that he will sign the bill, which Harris could call for a vote as soon as Nov. 12.
Mell says that Chicago is not San Francisco when it comes to acceptance – yet she is hopeful for her state.
“I think everyone’s feeling in Illinois is that we are going to get civil unions soon, and then it’s going to be marriage after a while,” she said. “So we are not California or Massachusetts yet, but we’re not Alabama, Georgia or Virginia either.”
Instead, things got rowdy, and Mell was arrested. A female police officer said Mell attacked her, and Mell was taken away in a paddy wagon.
Within 15 minutes her father, Richard Mell, a powerful Chicago alderman, came to her rescue—and soon found himself addressing some 300 polarized protesters on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate.
“I love my daughter Deb,” the alderman told the incensed crowd. “She believes fervently in a cause, and she stands for that cause—and I will support anybody who does that.”
Deb Mell was launched that day—and in November she is set to become the first open lesbian to serve in the Illinois general assembly.
A judge later found Mell not guilty on the charges of assaulting a police officer. The officer had claimed that Mell had gone into the street to attack her, but a videotape and witnesses proved her wrong.
“That woman was lying through her teeth,” Mell said. “I can’t believe that a police officer would do that under oath. I had just gone onto the street with my sign and then they grabbed me, and then they fell on top of me.”
In the end, though, getting arrested was one of the best things that happened to Mell, because it prompted her to become more of an activist. That same year, she won the NOW Chicago chapter’s award for activist of the year. She also received the Howard Brown Cornerstone Award for community excellence.
And this year, Mell’s candidacy earned the endorsement of the Victory Fund, whose research shows that gay candidates need twice the amount of financial resources of their straight counterparts to win office.
“When someone breaks a barrier, it takes more to let folks know, and more money is needed to prepare for attacks,” said Tressa Feher, the Victory Fund’s leadership network director. “Mell will definitely bring another chair to the leadership table.”
Illinois is a blue state, and with the support of her father and brother-in-law Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Mell is expected to win the Illinois house seat. She’s running against Republican Christine Nere-Foss – who’s not even bothering to run a campaign – and Green Party candidate Heather Benno for the 40th district in the Northwest of Chicago, where Mell was born and raised.
With a win, Mell will join Rep. Greg Harris, the only other openly gay legislator in the Illinois house or senate.
“With Deb in office, I will increase my caucus by 100 percent,” Harris joked. “As a gay man, I have my own perspective, and she will bring another point of view. She will also be the first open lesbian in the legislature, and it makes a big difference when you can talk
about how things affect you personally.”
Harris has known the Mells for quite a long time—”I’m embarrassed to even say how long,” he said. Mell has one sister, Patricia Blagojevich (Illinois’s first lady), and a brother, Richard Mell. Her mother Marge died in December 2006, and she lives with her partner Christin Baker, whom she met four years ago.
Harris thinks that thinks Mell will be a lot of help when it comes to gay issues.
And he will need it.
There is strong opposition in Springfield to gay marriage, including from (Gov.) Blagojevich, a Democratic governor. Right after Mell got arrested, he told the local NBC affiliate, “I believe in the current law that defines marriage as a man and a woman.” He has not changed his mind.
“He is still against it,” Mell said. “And I obviously disagree with him, and I’ve expressed my displeasure with the whole thing.”
Chicago has a domestic partner ordinance that allows same-sex couples to register with the county clerk’s office, but that does not convey any rights, benefits or privileges.
“The domestic partner registry means everything, but at the same time it means nothing,” said Rick García, political director of Equality Illinois.
“The fact that you are registered does not mean that you can visit your partner in the emergency room, or that you can make arrangements for his funeral either,” he said.
But at the same time there is hope in the land of Lincoln.
HB1826, a civil union bill that will give same-sex couples all the rights and obligations of marriage, will very likely pass this year, according to Harris—but he wants to make sure that enough supporting legislators will be in Springfield when he brings it to the House floor.
“We have just enough votes,” he said, “but I have to have a back-up in case any legislator leaves or does not show up that day.”
That back-up may very well be Mell.
Happily, Harris and Mell will have a friend on the civil union issue, if not gay marriage. Blagojevich told Mell that he will sign the bill, which Harris could call for a vote as soon as Nov. 12.
Mell says that Chicago is not San Francisco when it comes to acceptance – yet she is hopeful for her state.
“I think everyone’s feeling in Illinois is that we are going to get civil unions soon, and then it’s going to be marriage after a while,” she said. “So we are not California or Massachusetts yet, but we’re not Alabama, Georgia or Virginia either.”
