Trans Woman Petitions for Early Release from Elgin Facility
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VOL 30, NO. 37 JUNE 10, 2015 www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com Mia Kobi-Burks. Photo by Gretchen Rachel Hammond Trans woman petitions for early release from Elgin facility BY GRETCHEN RACHEL HAMMOND “I’m learning, I’ll be better soon,” Kobi-Burks wrote in a blog dated August 2011 about “who I want to be, in the mirror, The Elgin Mental Health Center is a sprawling complex of whom I want to see.” buildings set in the midst of farmland, forest preserves and For that to happen, Kobi-Burks worked alongside civil-rights the gently winding Fox River. Tucked away in a corner of the attorney Lowell E. Sachnoff. In 2013, Windy City Times re- campus, the entrance to the William White Forensic Unit would ported on Sachnoff’s successful argument that the Illinois be entirely inconspicuous were it not for the high, arching Department of Public Health (IDPH) was legally obligated to security fence surrounding the buildings. provide Kobi-Burks with transition-related medical services. It is within the confines of those buildings where 38-year- Furthermore he and Kobi-Burks had possibly set “a precedent old Mia Kobi-Burks has made a home for most of the past two for transgender people detained in jails, prisons and mental decades. They are located some 46 miles from a now long- health centers throughout Illinois.” abandoned and boarded-up house on the corner of 70th Street In early 2015 Kobi-Burks began her first set of surgical in- and South Damen Avenue on the South Side of Chicago. There, terventions and is currently searching for a specialist the IDPH on a late September evening in 1993, Kobi-Burks shot her will agree upon to perform her Gender Confirmation Surgery father, mother and sister multiple times “because one day I (GCS). Meanwhile she has received representation from Mark made a choice—the choice to explode, the choice to kill,” she Heyrman, clinical law professor at the University of Chicago, would later write to Windy City Times. “I have a spirit that will in a petition for early release from Elgin. not allow me to give up but that spirit was forged in horror.” Following two afternoons of hearings held in late spring of In an article covering Kobi-Burks’ subsequent trial, the Chi- this year, Judge Lawrence Edward Flood of the State of Illinois cago Tribune noted that prior to the murders she had been Circuit Court of Cook County is expected to rule on the petition hospitalized and described by one physician as “raving.” June 23. Kobi-Burks was found not guilty by reason of insanity on Before the hearings began, Kobi-Burks invited Windy City BRAND NEW July 7, 1995, and so started on two journeys—the first to Times to meet with her in the lunchroom of the William White Elgin and the second 16 years later, when she began the fight Forensic Unit. Beneath her smile and carefully applied make- Montrose Rocks is rebranded. for transition-related health care in order to match her outer up, there was a tranquility in her voice and mannerisms that Photo of rapper JR from body to her inner self, and so put a lasting end to the torment Montrose Rocks 2013 by Vern Hester 6 that she asserts haunted her throughout her life. Turn to page 10 LET THE MUSIC PLAY OFF THE SIDELINES PRIDE MONTH MOVIES Profile of Sandra “DJ Sandra Organization launches in Chicago. Including the film Weekend. Suave” Urquiaga. Photo by Tracy Baim 26 8 22 2 June 10, 2015 WINDY CITY TIMES THE BEGINNING OF AN HIV/AIDS-FREE ILLINOIS STARTS WITH YOU. 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Jeff Berry; Letters 14 On June 28th ENTERTAINMENT/EVENTS Dancin’ Feats 15 GET OUR Look for our Subarus Trans people find voices 18 Films: Limited Partnership 20 LOW in the Pride Parade Knight: Pride Month movies 22 VOL 30, NO. 37 JUNE 10, 2015 www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com PRICE Gay singer Carl Thornton 23 Mia Kobi-Burks. Photo by Gretchen Rachel Hammond In Skokie Profile: DJ Sandra Suave 26 Trans woman petitions for early release from Elgin facility BY GRETCHEN RACHEL HAMMOND “I’m learning, I’ll be better soon,” Kobi-Burks wrote in a blog OUTLINES dated August 2011 about “who I want to be, in the mirror, The Elgin Mental Health Center is a sprawling complex of whom I want to see.” buildings set in the midst of farmland, forest preserves and For that to happen, Kobi-Burks worked alongside civil-rights the gently winding Fox River. Tucked away in a corner of the attorney Lowell E. Sachnoff. In 2013, Windy City Times re- Classifieds; Dish (BBQ eateries) 27 campus, the entrance to the William White Forensic Unit would ported on Sachnoff’s successful argument that the Illinois be entirely inconspicuous were it not for the high, arching Department of Public Health (IDPH) was legally obligated to security fence surrounding the buildings. provide Kobi-Burks with transition-related medical services. It is within the confines of those buildings where 38-year- Furthermore he and Kobi-Burks had possibly set “a precedent old Mia Kobi-Burks has made a home for most of the past two for transgender people detained in jails, prisons and mental Calendar 28 decades. They are located some 46 miles from a now long- health centers throughout Illinois.” abandoned and boarded-up house on the corner of 70th Street In early 2015 Kobi-Burks began her first set of surgical in- and South Damen Avenue on the South Side of Chicago. There, terventions and is currently searching for a specialist the IDPH on a late September evening in 1993, Kobi-Burks shot her will agree upon to perform her Gender Confirmation Surgery father, mother and sister multiple times “because one day I (GCS). Meanwhile she has received representation from Mark Billy Masters 29 made a choice—the choice to explode, the choice to kill,” she Heyrman, clinical law professor at the University of Chicago, would later write to Windy City Times. “I have a spirit that will in a petition for early release from Elgin. not allow me to give up but that spirit was forged in horror.” Following two afternoons of hearings held in late spring of In an article covering Kobi-Burks’ subsequent trial, the Chi- this year, Judge Lawrence Edward Flood of the State of Illinois cago Tribune noted that prior to the murders she had been Circuit Court of Cook County is expected to rule on the petition Book review 30 hospitalized and described by one physician as “raving.” June 23. Kobi-Burks was found not guilty by reason of insanity on Before the hearings began, Kobi-Burks invited Windy City BRAND NEW July 7, 1995, and so started on two journeys—the first to Times to meet with her in the lunchroom of the William White Elgin and the second 16 years later, when she began the fight Forensic Unit. Beneath her smile and carefully applied make- Montrose Rocks is rebranded. for transition-related health care in order to match her outer up, there was a tranquility in her voice and mannerisms that Photo of rapper JR from body to her inner self, and so put a lasting end to the torment Montrose Rocks 2013 by Vern Hester 6 that she asserts haunted her throughout her life. Turn to page 10 WE HAVE CARS! LET THE MUSIC PLAY OUT IN THE SIDELINES PRIDE MONTH MOVIES Profile of Sandra “DJ Sandra Organization launches in Chicago. Including the film Weekend. Suave” Urquiaga. 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