Walking while trans in Chicago
by Kate Sosin, Windy City Times
2012-12-26

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Walking-while-trans-in-Chicago/40947.html

Nomi Michaels Devereaux had six bags of groceries in hand when police arrested her.

She had just come from the Jewel Osco grocery store in Lakeview and was waiting outside while her boyfriend picked up a game system from a friend's on Sheffield.

According to Devereaux, police walked up to her, removed the groceries from her hands and handcuffed her.

"I said, 'What is going on? Why did you stop me? What is going on?'" she recalled.

At the police station, she said, officers made her take her bra off in front of them and then mocked her. She later learned she had been picked up for solicitation, she said.

Devereaux's story set off a firestorm in Lakeview because she did something few transgender people do: She reported the incident to local LGBT advocates. This August, that effort led to the implementation of a transgender general order for Chicago Police. "

I live in Chicago, and was not surprised when this happened. I am not sure of the timeline, but am very curious about if Chicago Police did this as an act of solidarity and support to Cicero PD or vice versa. I CAN tell you that when this ordinance was passed, CPD officers were NOT happy about it and it shows quite openly.

Chicago Police are very creative about getting past such internal orders, ordinances, etc. I am sadly willing to say that we will hear more stories like this from Chicago, as CPD has a history of riding the legal envelope on just about everything and their favorite act is to do things that are borderline entrapment, willful misinterpretation of laws and ordinances, aggressively vindictive investigations and surveillances that border on harassment, etc.

Well I guess I'm not living in chicago for a while.