Naperville Pride Group Mobilizes to Support Downers Grove’s LGBTQ+ Community After Council Clash
Naperville's Naper Pride is mobilizing members to attend Downers Grove meetings after residents asked the village to end its Pride Month proclamation, sparking a public debate over LGBTQ+ recognition and government neutrality.
Members of Naper Pride, a Naperville-based LGBTQ+ support organization, are heading to a Downers Grove Village Council meeting tonight to push back against a recent request to end the village’s Pride Month proclamation.
The call to action comes after a heated May 5 council meeting where two residents asked officials to stop officially recognizing June as Pride Month. Their argument sparked a sharp response from both council members and community groups across DuPage County.
The request to end Pride Month
Ilene Briner, a Downers Grove resident, made the request at the May 5 meeting. She said the village’s Pride proclamation “caters to only one genre of thought on sexuality and gender.”
“Pride month is elevated, but [there is] no comparable month-long celebration for Christian perspectives on family, marriage or biological reality,” Briner said.
She argued that the village was “discriminating against most everyone else” by selecting “one contested ideology for official honor and public prominence while leaving the beliefs of the broader population unrecognized.”
Laura Hois, a Republican candidate for state representative, seconded the request. She told Shaw Local that she and Briner have been thanked by many Downers Grove residents for their effort.
“They view it as inappropriate for local government to officially celebrate adult lifestyle choices, specifically homosexuality and transgender ideology, while traditional community-wide proclamations honor veterans, first responders and law enforcement,” Hois said in a written statement.
Hois added that the request “exposed how one-sided this issue has become in DuPage County.”
Council members push back
Commissioner Leslie Sadowski-Fugitt pushed back during the May 5 meeting. She said calling people out for who they are is “not an opinion” but “bigotry.”
“We have lost young people to suicide because of this rhetoric,” Sadowski-Fugitt said.
She noted that non-LGBTQ people do not need a dedicated month because they already have “all of society” on their side.
“We indeed have to live with one another, but terms and conditions apply, and that’s exactly the case here. Some of the things that were said today were atrocious, and there’s no place in decent society for saying cruel things about people, for implying that somehow an LGBTQ lifestyle is less-than,” she said.
Naper Pride answers the call
Naper Pride responded by asking its members to attend two Downers Grove meetings. The first is tonight’s Village Council meeting at 7 p.m. at the Downers Grove Civic Center, 850 Curtiss St. The second is the Downers Grove Library Board meeting on May 27.
In a Facebook post, the group wrote:
“Downers Grove is a diverse community, and public institutions should serve and support all residents regardless of identity, orientation or beliefs. Pride celebrations and inclusive programming help ensure that LGBTQ+ residents, families and youth know they belong here too.”
The post also referenced the origins of Pride:
“Pride didn’t start out as a party. It started out as a responsibility, one that all of those at Stonewall accepted for each other. They stood together and they said no more. Now it’s our responsibility, our turn. Will you stand with your community?”
What Naper Pride’s president says
Margie Wolf, president of Naper Pride, declined an interview for this story. In an email, she said the group is focused on supporting their Downers Grove neighbors.
“While increasing opposition is something that the LGBTQ+ community faces across the country and around the world, this particular situation is about our neighbors in Downers Grove. It is their voices that we should be amplifying,” Wolf wrote.
She added that Naper Pride is “not leading anything” and is simply “standing next to each other.”
The group has also encouraged residents to stand with Equality Downers Grove, a local LGBTQ+ advocacy organization.
What to watch
The Downers Grove Village Council meeting begins at 7 p.m. tonight. The Library Board meeting is scheduled for May 27. Both meetings are expected to draw community members from across DuPage County.
Hois said the pushback from Naper Pride and other groups shows that “any resistance to their agenda is immediately met with organized mobilization.” She added that many residents who disagree “have been sidelined or ignored for years.”
Sadowski-Fugitt’s comments at the May 5 meeting suggest the council itself remains divided on how to handle the issue moving forward.