LGBTQ workers are at the forefront of Chicago’s labor resurgence. ‘You have to learn to stick up for yourself’

Jordan Parshall first got involved in political activism in his early teens growing up in Minnesota. In 2012, a proposed constitutional amendment would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman in the state. Parshall, who had realized he was gay, felt compelled to volunteer for the ‘vote no’ campaign, which ultimately prevailed. “I wanted what my parents had. My parents were happily married,” said Parshall, who now works for Intelligentsia Coffee in Chicago and as an organizer for the baristas’ union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1220. “I wanted to get mar...