Journalist who reported Dyke March was excluding Jewish flags stripped of her duties
(Getty)
The journalist who first reported that the Chicago Dyke March had excluded people for carrying Jewish Pride flags has been stripped of her reporting duties.
Three people waving the flags were asked to leave because they were making “people feel unsafe” at the parade in the La Villita neighbourhood, which is part of the city’s annual Pride festivities.
Chicago Dyke March had been accused of antisemitism for banning the flag, as the Star of David has been Jewish symbol for hundreds of years.
Organisers have since hit back via their official Twitter account, claiming that the individuals were asked to leave for vocally expressing their support for Zionism.
The story was first reported by award-winning journalist Gretchen Rachel Hammond of the Windy City Times on 24 June.
It has now been reported that Hammond had been removed from her reporting duties and moved to a sales role.
“At this time, I have not been fired from Windy City Times, but I have been transferred to working full time for the sales department,” Hammond said in an emailed statement.
“The reasoning is an internal matter and I have been instructed not to comment about it even to close friends. Given my present situation, I must comply with this instruction.”
Hammond had previously been listed on the masthead for the paper as a senior writer.
She is now listed as a senior account executive.
Tracy Baim — the publisher and executive editor of the Windy City Times said that she would not comment on the issue when approached by reporters.
“I cannot comment on our people, but know that we stand by our reporting on our stories,” Baim said.
Hammond has worked at the paper since 2013. She previously won the 2016 National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Award for Excellence in News Writing.
One of the founders of a Dyke March last week hit out at organisers of the Chicago event.
Wendy Sue Biegeleisen, a founder of the Dyke March hit back in a lengthy Facebook post criticising the move and saying that inclusion should be key at the events.
