This summer, we met with Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes of Chicago’s 26th Ward, a queer Latina grassroots organizer, educator, and public policy advocate. Prior to serving as alder person, Jesse Fuentes served as Dean of Students of both Roberto Clemente Community Academy and Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School. She was the director of policy and youth advocacy at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center.
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We asked Fuentes for her assessment thus far of Trump’s impact on Chicago and it’s LGBTQ community and what issues she is hearing about from her constituents.
“Folks do not feel like they have a government right now that has their back or wishes that they would be able to stay in place. And folks are really about affordability in a way I have not seen in my lifetime,” Fuentes said. “First, residents want assurance that all neighbors remain safe regardless of immigration status. Second, affordability has emerged as a dominant issue, with residents struggling under rising costs for food, gas, rent, and property taxes. Third, communities worry about government interference in personal relationships and youth safety.”
The alderperson also highlighted the painful consequences for trans and nonbinary youth in Chicago.
“I talk to young people who have been receiving gender-affirming care for the last several years and all of a sudden their providers are making decisions to no longer provide that care because of threats of not taking insurance. That is creating an immense amount of fear on the ground,” Fuentes said.
Hospitals Forced Into Difficult Positions
At the time of our conversation, no major hospital system in the city was offering gender affirming care for trans and nonbinary people under 18. Fuentes described this as an impossible choice.
“Some of our largest hospitals in the state of Illinois who have historically been on the right side and have provided gender-affirming care to our young people … we now have hospitals that have been put in a position where they have to determine if they’re going to continue to provide services and risk their livelihood as an institution, or are they going to center the livelihood fiscally and then stop providing services,” Fuentes said.
Trust with these healthcare institutions is rapidly deteriorating which represents a difficult challenge for local governance on how to react.
Further stoking this healthcare crisis, Fuentes addressed the impact of the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz, particularly affecting Latino communities. Fuentes said school attendance has dropped and residents avoid emergency rooms due to fears that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents may be prowling outside or inside these institutions that Chicago considers safe spaces.
“In the city of Chicago, we want everyone to be able to dial 911 without fearing that their child might be taken or not fear that on their way to dropping off their child to school or daycare, they’re going to be picked up and be separated from their families,” Fuentes said. “Your schools, your churches, your hospitals are supposed to be safety net institutions that have the trust. And now as a city, we are fighting every single day, not just to uphold our local policies, but to ensure that Chicagoans can still trust a local entity like the city of Chicago.”
Fuentes has personally sought justice against ICE. She filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the Department of Homeland Security after they detained her while she checked on the status of one of her constituents at a local hospital during their operation. Video of the incident showed ICE agents violently detaining her.
“Federal agents unfortunately are protected and we cannot sue them as individuals. So my lawsuit in particular is suing their employer, Homeland Security,” Fuentes said. “The purpose of the lawsuit is to engage in a system where we can prove that we still have a balance in justice.”
While Operation Midway Blitz ended just shy of a year ago, Fuentes said ICE continues to deploy aggressive tactics throughout the city, which includes pointing firearms at civilians and intimidating constitutional observers from documenting their activities.
Investigations Target Schools Over LGBTQ Content
Fuentes, who previously served as Dean of Students at Roberto Clemente Community Academy and Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School, also spoke to the Trump administration’s sprawling investigation into Illinois schools.
“These type of lawsuits can pause, stagnate and even roll back a lot of the efforts that we have done to make sure that LGBTQ young people can feel safe in their schools,” Fuentes said.
The alderperson emphasized the need for visible queer leaders in all positions and how that provides critical support for young people navigating their education.
“When I became the Dean of Students at Roberto Clemente Community Academy early in my career, I was probably one of the first [masculine] presenting queer folks that served in leadership there. And my position alone made young people feel safe enough to be open, to have courageous conversations with their families, to be authentically themselves in the hallways and in their classrooms,” Fuentes said.
Illinois Officials Push Back Against Trump
Fuentes highlighted the efforts of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Governor JB Pritzker to defend LGBTQ healthcare access. In April, a coalition of over 20 attorneys general, including Raoul, prevailed in their lawsuit against RFK Jr., which rolled back restrictions Kennedy, Jr. had instituted in December 2025. Governor Pritzker promotes Illinois as a trans refuge state and has refused to back down on supporting transgender athletes.
“Governor JB Pritzker has continued to stand firm in his position that what we have been doing for decades here in the state of Illinois is the right thing to do. Everyone deserves the full scope of services no matter how they identify,” Fuentes said.
Fuentes said the November midterms will be pivotal in determining what the next two years will look like for the LGBTQ community.
“Our upcoming general elections, not just for the state of Illinois, but for the entire country, I think will determine the remainder of this term,” Fuentes said.
And Fuentes pointed to how decades of grassroots organizing has created protections for the LGBTQ community in Illinois that cannot uneasily be undone.
“A city like Chicago has had a long history of organizing, standing together and pushing back against injustice. And it’s why we see laws like the Equal Marriage Act be a law that I get to benefit from and marry my wife and be able to love who I want to love,” Fuentes said.
With the Trump administration and MAGA attacking on all levels of government, Fuentes said this is a call to double-down.
“Obviously we have rolled back quite a bit of the work that many of our prior organizers and leaders have put in, but that doesn’t mean that we stop here. In fact, I think we need to double down in our efforts to make sure that we can keep every resident in this country safe,” Fuentes said. “Look, I was just on a signal chat this morning where I picked up several members of my community and moments like that can feel harmful, can impact one’s mental health and even perspective on what organizing looks like in this country in this moment. But I am positive that if we continue in that spirit, we will resume to be the country that we are all proud of.”
To connect with Alderperson Jesse Fuentes, visit https://the26thward.org.
