Crystal Lake Rejects Gay Games, Revote Comming Up
Readers of this blog who are not residents of beautiful metropolitan McHenry County, Illinois might be mildly curious as to the outcome of a request to the Crystal Lake Park District to host rowing events as part of the Gay Games scheduled to be held in Chicago this summer.
Faithful readers may recall that I posted a letter I wrote to the Park District in support of the Games a few days ago.
If you are new here, the rest of us will wait while you scroll down the page a bit and find that original entry. Find it? Good. Now that we are all up to speed, we can get caught up with how things stand now.
The Park District was scheduled to vote on Thursday evening. On Wednesday a very pleasant Jack Sebesta, Superintendent of Recreation, to whom I addressed my original letter, called. He said that the staff was fully behind the proposal and indicated that they were also aware that the recently passed Illinois Human Right Act, added sexual orientation to the categories protected from discrimination. He said the District had received some communications from opponents, but also a lot of positive feedback. He noted that unlike the opponents, supporters actually left their names and contact information. Sebesta expected that the board would support the games.
Meanwhile the county’s principle newspaper, the NORTHWEST HERALD, had come out editorially in support of the Games. The letters to the editor column was already carrying impassioned denunciations of the Games and hysterical claims that thousands of misbehaving homosexuals would descend on the city corrupting the morals of local children.
The brewing controversy managed to get the attention of even the Chicago media, which usually ignore events out here in the far boonies unless a certain level of gore is achieved. TV cameras from the major Chicago stations were on hand to capture the dram of the anticipated Park District meeting.
And drama there was. A parade of opponents marched to the microphone during the public comment period of the meeting. (Full disclosure here: I had a conflict and was not personally able to attend. This description is based on media reports.) The opponents made no attempt to hide the fact that their opposition was based solely on the fact that Games were a Gay event. One woman, who caught the attention of the TV cameras, was nearly in tears as she raised the specter of AIDS and a threat to the health of her children. Others cited figures for the total expected attendance of the events in Chicago as if they all were going to descend on Crystal Lake to watch rowing events. (In fact, game organizers anticipate about 50 competitors and less than 200 spectators.) A person who identified himself as a spokesperson for a “fellowship of local pastors” Said that the “decision is not about the event but about the event with a particular agenda.”
Of course the Games had their supporters. I am proud to say that my minister, the Rev. Dan Larsen of the Congregational Unitarian Church in Woodstock was prominent among them and got face time on TV. “Everybody has the right to row their boat.” He said.
So what was the outcome? Only four of the five Park District Commissioners were in attendance. Commissioners Candy Reedy and Michael Zellmann voted in favor. Scott Breeden and Dave Phelps voted against. A tie vote killed the application.
Phelps was particularly upfront about his vote saying the, “…Park District should not be a vehicle for a person’s agenda or sexual preference.” He also indicated he was willing to let the Park District be sued under the Illinois law, “I guess that’s up to the courts.”
Breeden hid his motives behind a flimsy excuse that the games would restrict access to the lake by local residents.
If the Park District thought they were dodging the bullet by mollifying local bigots, they were sadly mistaken. Opposition to their stand erupted immediately. The NORTHWEST HERALD letters columns are now flooded with supporters of the games. Breen reported to the same paper that he was receiving e-mails at a rate of 50 per hour on Friday afternoon in opposition to his vote. Gay Games organizers indicated that they were seriously considering taking legal action with every expectation of success considering how blatantly based on the orientation of participants the event.
Meanwhile missing Park District President Jerry Sullivan, who was in Mexico on vacation at the time of the vote, has returned and called a special meeting of the Park District on Tuesday, March 7th. He has indicated that he intends to break the tie and vote to approve the rowing events, “My gut reaction would be that I most likely would be in favor of it.”
We shall see. Supporters of human rights will certainly be out in force on Tuesday. So will those members of the lynch mob willing to have their faces seen in public. If the Board does its duty and approves the Games, we can celebrate.
But if they fall victim to fear and sustain their rejection, perhaps it is time for further action.
How about this. The Gay Games rowing regatta would probably have slipped onto the lake with hardly a local ripple had the morally righteous not raised a fire stormThey said they were trying to avoid having to explain the presence of Gay folk to their children. Now I’m not Gay, so I don’t really get a vote on this. But if I were, I might think that this would be an excellent time to launch McHenry County’s first Gay Pride Parade. The city would have to issue a permit. I can see it now-the Parade following the path of the annual Gala Days Parade from near the city hall, up Dole Avenue to the Lake, hundreds of Gay folks (including the most outrageous drag queens available) and their supporters noisily strutting down Crystal Lake’s pristine streets in broad daylight!
Wouldn’t that give those fretting parents something to explain to their children?
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Faithful readers may recall that I posted a letter I wrote to the Park District in support of the Games a few days ago.
If you are new here, the rest of us will wait while you scroll down the page a bit and find that original entry. Find it? Good. Now that we are all up to speed, we can get caught up with how things stand now.
The Park District was scheduled to vote on Thursday evening. On Wednesday a very pleasant Jack Sebesta, Superintendent of Recreation, to whom I addressed my original letter, called. He said that the staff was fully behind the proposal and indicated that they were also aware that the recently passed Illinois Human Right Act, added sexual orientation to the categories protected from discrimination. He said the District had received some communications from opponents, but also a lot of positive feedback. He noted that unlike the opponents, supporters actually left their names and contact information. Sebesta expected that the board would support the games.
Meanwhile the county’s principle newspaper, the NORTHWEST HERALD, had come out editorially in support of the Games. The letters to the editor column was already carrying impassioned denunciations of the Games and hysterical claims that thousands of misbehaving homosexuals would descend on the city corrupting the morals of local children.
The brewing controversy managed to get the attention of even the Chicago media, which usually ignore events out here in the far boonies unless a certain level of gore is achieved. TV cameras from the major Chicago stations were on hand to capture the dram of the anticipated Park District meeting.
And drama there was. A parade of opponents marched to the microphone during the public comment period of the meeting. (Full disclosure here: I had a conflict and was not personally able to attend. This description is based on media reports.) The opponents made no attempt to hide the fact that their opposition was based solely on the fact that Games were a Gay event. One woman, who caught the attention of the TV cameras, was nearly in tears as she raised the specter of AIDS and a threat to the health of her children. Others cited figures for the total expected attendance of the events in Chicago as if they all were going to descend on Crystal Lake to watch rowing events. (In fact, game organizers anticipate about 50 competitors and less than 200 spectators.) A person who identified himself as a spokesperson for a “fellowship of local pastors” Said that the “decision is not about the event but about the event with a particular agenda.”
Of course the Games had their supporters. I am proud to say that my minister, the Rev. Dan Larsen of the Congregational Unitarian Church in Woodstock was prominent among them and got face time on TV. “Everybody has the right to row their boat.” He said.
So what was the outcome? Only four of the five Park District Commissioners were in attendance. Commissioners Candy Reedy and Michael Zellmann voted in favor. Scott Breeden and Dave Phelps voted against. A tie vote killed the application.
Phelps was particularly upfront about his vote saying the, “…Park District should not be a vehicle for a person’s agenda or sexual preference.” He also indicated he was willing to let the Park District be sued under the Illinois law, “I guess that’s up to the courts.”
Breeden hid his motives behind a flimsy excuse that the games would restrict access to the lake by local residents.
If the Park District thought they were dodging the bullet by mollifying local bigots, they were sadly mistaken. Opposition to their stand erupted immediately. The NORTHWEST HERALD letters columns are now flooded with supporters of the games. Breen reported to the same paper that he was receiving e-mails at a rate of 50 per hour on Friday afternoon in opposition to his vote. Gay Games organizers indicated that they were seriously considering taking legal action with every expectation of success considering how blatantly based on the orientation of participants the event.
Meanwhile missing Park District President Jerry Sullivan, who was in Mexico on vacation at the time of the vote, has returned and called a special meeting of the Park District on Tuesday, March 7th. He has indicated that he intends to break the tie and vote to approve the rowing events, “My gut reaction would be that I most likely would be in favor of it.”
We shall see. Supporters of human rights will certainly be out in force on Tuesday. So will those members of the lynch mob willing to have their faces seen in public. If the Board does its duty and approves the Games, we can celebrate.
But if they fall victim to fear and sustain their rejection, perhaps it is time for further action.
How about this. The Gay Games rowing regatta would probably have slipped onto the lake with hardly a local ripple had the morally righteous not raised a fire stormThey said they were trying to avoid having to explain the presence of Gay folk to their children. Now I’m not Gay, so I don’t really get a vote on this. But if I were, I might think that this would be an excellent time to launch McHenry County’s first Gay Pride Parade. The city would have to issue a permit. I can see it now-the Parade following the path of the annual Gala Days Parade from near the city hall, up Dole Avenue to the Lake, hundreds of Gay folks (including the most outrageous drag queens available) and their supporters noisily strutting down Crystal Lake’s pristine streets in broad daylight!
Wouldn’t that give those fretting parents something to explain to their children?
Not a Live Journal Member? Comment by e-mail to