The Will County Board voted Thursday to approve a proclamation recognizing June as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, but not before some board members questioned why the proclamation was on the agenda.
“I would like to know where’s the representation for the traditional family,” said Julie Berkowicz, a Republican from Naperville, who was one of two Republicans questioning why the board was voting on the Pride proclamation.
“We should support the freedoms of every individual no matter who they say they are,” Berkowicz said. “This type of resolution does not belong here. It has nothing to do with county government. … I’m not saying I’m against it, but I’m saying we need to focus on doing our business.”
Berkowicz was one of 16 board members who voted in support of the Pride Month proclamation.
Dan Butler, a Republican from Frankfort, cast the board’s sole no vote against the proclamation, saying he doesn’t feel the county board meeting is the forum for it.
“I think we got way too many proclamations,” Butler said. “Whatever people want to do, live their lives the way they want to live it, I’m fine with that. I don’t agree that the government should be making proclamations about people’s sexuality. It just doesn’t seem like the place.”
The Will County Board typically has a handful of proclamations on its monthly agenda that are unanimously approved without discussion.
The board also issued proclamations Thursday for Father’s Day and the 80th anniversary of D-Day, which took place June 6, 1944. Butler cast a no vote for the Father’s Day proclamation, but the D-Day proclamation passed by a 19-0 vote.
Earlier this week, Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant signed a proclamation recognizing Juneteenth to commemorate the ending of slavery.
Board member Destinee Ortiz, a Democrat from Romeoville, said Pride proclamations are the board’s business and she was saddened to hear that others believe the county board should recognize it.
“The people are our business,” Ortiz said. “Representing these people and making them feel welcome in this county is our business.”
People in the LGBTQ community recognize that homophobia is an issue, and families threaten to disown their children for being gay, Ortiz said. A traditional couple does not face the same challenges or discrimination, she said.
“Why do we act like we don’t know this,” Ortiz said.
Joliet resident Eva-Genevieve Scarborough, who was one of several members of Will County Pride organizations that accepted the Pride proclamation, said the recognition was important to the LGBTQ community.
“People grew up having to hide who they were or who they loved, and taught through all the years that we are less than, that we are broken, that we are bad people,” Scarborough said. “Religious people called us an abomination. How that affects a person growing up just carries through their life. Even today I still wrestle with all of those things that I’ve had to unlearn because they are indelibly written on my memory.”
Will County Board members recognize June as Pride MonthCounty Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, from left, Eva-Genevieve Scarborough, June Allen-Smith, board member and Democratic Leader Jackie Traynere (D-Bolingbrook), board member Meta Mueller (D-Aurora), David Lazano, Jes McIlvain and Mailyn Gotlund-Hill. (Will County government)
Having a proclamation is validating and makes people feel as though they are a part of the community, welcomed and wanted, she said.
“We’re still human,” Scarborough said. “We still have feelings and issues and needs. As the Constitution says, we have the right to pursue happiness.”
Scarborough said she wants to be accepted like others.
“Everyone is deserving of respect,” she said. “I’d like to live in a day where I didn’t need a proclamation to recognize the validity of my identity. But that’s needed because, as (Ortiz) said, there’s a whole lot of people out there who aren’t represented unless we make a proclamation like this. It’s important to show those people, Will County has a place of equality for each one of us.”
The Will County Board unanimously passed a Pride resolution in 2022, but removed it from its agenda last year.
The June agenda last year initially contained proclamations to recognize Juneteenth, Pride Month and Moms for America. All three items were removed after residents wrote in expressing concern that Moms for America was responsible for anti-LGBTQ initiatives and divisive rhetoric.
Moms for America is listed among the Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate and antigovernment groups in Illinois. Supporters of Moms for America, however, said they promote families.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.
