Drag queen bingo debate continues at Downers Grove council meeting

Opponents of plans to host a drag queen bingo event designed for teens at the Downers Grove Public Library attended Tuesday’s village council meeting to request that the event be canceled.

Opponents said the event, planned for October, is not appropriate for teens and should not be held at the library, which is supported by taxpayer dollars. Some added that an event is designed to groom children to adopt an LGBTQ lifestyle.

“What I do not understand is why the Downers Grove library is hosting an event that sexually exploits and manipulates children as young as 12 years old,” said Noel Manley, a Darien resident “What I do know is that we have a woke library board and a woke library administration that is completely unaccountable to taxpayers.”

Manley added that the library “seeks to promote this child exploitation under the guise of diversity and inclusion. And who determines what is diverse and inclusive? Well, it’s the library administrators, of course. In reality, there is no diversity, there’s only an agenda. An agenda designed to use taxpayer resources to advance a cultural Marxist woke ideology.”

Tyler Reviglio, who goes by the stage name Aurora Divine, will host the event, set for 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 11. The date of the game night coincides with National Coming Out Day.

Eileen Bryner, a Downers Grove resident, said the library is not abiding by its mission by sponsoring the event.

“The library has always been a good, wholesome place for the youth of this community,” Bryner said. “It’s been a trusted establishment for the kids. But the presentation of a drag queen to this age group goes against all of that. This is grooming of some teenagers for an LGBTQ life. It can put a child on a course of irreversible damage. We must not allow this.”

In an Aug. 29 statement to the community, Downers Grove Library Director Julie Milavec disputed that notion.

“One of the falsely named concerns that has been shared with us is that hosting this performance will ‘groom’ children,” the statement said. “This has been used largely in two different ways: that we are grooming children to be complacent around sexual predators and/or that we are exposing children to a ‘contagion’ that will spread and ‘turn them’ into something they are not (i.e. gay, trans, etc.). This is indisputably false. A second concern repeatedly voiced to us is that we are purposefully introducing sexual content to children. This is also completely untrue. This performance will not be sexual in nature.

“To use a blanket label for drag queens as pedophiles and groomers perpetuates harmful false narratives and demonstrates a lack of understanding surrounding the drag community,” the statement added.

But Downers Grove resident Norm Sidler said the program “has an agenda attached to it.”

“I want to make it clear that Julie Milavec is pushing a personal agenda,” he said.

Laura Hois also voiced opposition to the event.

“What is wrong with a drag queen event? Everything. It’s inappropriate. It’s toxic sexual influencing targeting our kids,” Hois said.

Brian Sewell, a Downers Grove resident, chastised radical progressives for support the program.

“The culture wars have come to the village with radicals who preach diversity but they’re foaming at the mouth when people do not support their views,” Sewell said. “The vitriol about the drag queen bingo is astounding. The progressive rabble has been activated.”

He added that it is impossible to reformat a drag queen event for children.

“It’s like reformatting hard core pornography for children by putting some type of block over the key aspects of the interaction,” he said.

Supporters of the event were outnumbered at the council meeting, but voiced their support.

“I don’t believe there is any agenda,” Anne Wick said. “I believe they are trying to meet a need of kids who have been marginalized by society and trying to support them. Those kids are members of our society. They have the wherewithal to make their own decisions, and I think we need to respect them and support them.”

Laura Temple said opponents do not represent the majority of people who live in Downers Grove.

“I’m just not really sure why so many people feel they need to worry about other people’s kids participating in this program,” Temple said. “It’s a choice that kids and parents can make on their own. They can attend or not attend. If you don’t like it or think it’s appropriate, don’t send your kid. It’s that simple. But for the kids who need it, they need these kinds of opportunities available to them.”

Linda Schranz, who volunteers at Youth Outlook, an organization that provides support for LGBTQ youth and their families, said the program will help members of marginalized communities.

“I see kids on a weekly basis, 12 to 20 years old, who struggle in this community because they are not accepted, because there is discrimination, because there are people who don’t understand what it’s like to be a teenager, to feel different, to be different than your friends and acquaintances,” Schranz said.

Commissioner Chris Gilmartin was the only council member to address opposition to the event.

“I believe that the issues raised about the event are borne out of ignorance or worse, and as a community it is important for us to recognize opportunities to learn and grow when it comes to understanding those who may be different from us. It also important for us to stand up and support those who have been marginalized,” Gilmartin said.