Rick GarciaCherkasov gave Garcia the news Dec.16, just ahead the two were to host a forum on the civil unions bill at the Focus on Halsted. Instead the assembly was hosted by Equality board member Kevin Hauswirth and development associate Kevin Mork, and Lambda Legal community educator Simon Aronoff.Garcia, though, who co-founded Equality in 1992 and has been the group's top lobbyist since then, said a few hours after being let go that he didn't mean to go quietly and the following morning, Dec. 17, showed up to play at Equality's offices on North Halsted Street.When he refused to leave, Cherkasov called Chicago police and had them escort Garcia out of the offices.The result and his subsequent removal from his place took Garcia by surprise, who described it as akin to "something out of a Fellini movie."The act also appears to get taken some board members by surprise. Though none wanted to go on the book because of the theory of litigation, several who were reached by phone used words like "floored" to trace their reaction to the news. Cherkasov said board members had been apprised of the place in recent months. One said, however, that the agreement he had been granted was that a point of coexistence between Cherkasov and Garcia had been reached.Another board member described Garcia's termination as "the dumbest thing we could do" just weeks after getting civil unions passed and less than two months before Equality's annual Justice for All benefit is scheduled.Garcia reiterated Dec. 17 that he intends to battle to continue with the organization he's been the world side of for about two decades. He said he's already in touch with attorneys about possible legal actions he can take.Some board members also said they are discussing the theory that the result could be reversed by the board, although others said there is no prospect of that happening.Garcia is known for not mincing his words, a way that hasn't always set well with some. But he has gotten results, from being part of the "Ring of Four" activists who led the attempt to pass Chicago's law banning discrimination based on sexual preference in 1988 to organism the lead lobbyist in the fight to extend the state's nondiscrimination law protecting LGBTs in 2005. Along the way, he guided Equality as it helped secure passage of similar nondiscrimination laws in Cook County and cities across the state.Garcia, who was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Celebrity in 1999, said he intends to keep doing the shape that's made him a family name in LGBT and political circles in Illinois."I have been around doing this for a long, long time," Garcia said. "And I can assure you that I am not going anywhere."
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