The Plainfield Park District reaffirmed that Plainfield Pride would go on this weekend, but only after the threat of a lawsuit
Pride was added to the district meeting agenda for Wednesday, Oct. 12, despite it being removed in September. Again, many of the opponents were against the inclusion of Drag Queen Story Hour on the Pride schedule.
“However, despite both our good intentions, even in the wake of intense public scrutiny, and our good faith attempts to resolve concerns with the fest organizers, at the October 12, 2022, regular board meeting, the fest organizers threatened to sue the Plainfield Park District over the inclusion of the Drag Queen Story Hour for children,” the district said in a blog post.
The district also said that they wanted to make the first Pride at PARC a success even if they were not the host.
“We want to congratulate our partners at Plainfield Pride for all they have done to lift up and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in the face of adversity,” civil rights group Equality Illinois said in a statement. “While we are disappointed it took the threat of litigation to remind Plainfield Park District of anti-discrimination protections that exist in the law to get them to do the right thing and uphold their commitment to the LGBTQ+ community, we are excited that queer people in and around Plainfield will continue to have the opportunity to gather and celebrate what makes LGBTQ+ so special: love and resilience.”
Plainfield is the most recent instance of anti-LGBTQ activists fighting to keep shut down events where drag is in a family-friendly event.
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