Will County Board controversy leads to no vote on LGBTQ Pride, Juneteenth proclamations

There was no formal recognition of LGBTQ Pride Month or Juneteenth at last week’s Will County Board meeting following controversy over the board’s potential decision to recognize a group called extremist by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Unlike last year, the county board did not vote on a proclamation recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month at their regular meeting on Thursday, nor was there a vote to recognize Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.

Both proclamations were pulled from the board agenda after a wave of criticism over a third proclamation to recognize Moms For America. That item also was pulled from the agenda.

This year, the Southern Poverty Law Center listed Moms for America as part of the antigovernment movement in its annual report called Year in Hate and Extremism.

The inclusion of Moms For America in the annual report was noted by many of people who blasted the board for a potential vote on recognizing the organization.

I’m disgusted that some members of the Will County Board would laud a group that harms many in our communities while refusing to celebrate those that provide support.”

—  Laura Welch, president of Illinois chapter of the National Organization for Women

In a message that was read aloud to the board Thursday, National Organization for Women Illinois chapter president Laura Welch said she was appalled that some county board members had plans to recognize Moms for America.

“I’m disgusted that some members of the Will County Board would laud a group that harms many in our communities while refusing to celebrate those that provide support,” Welch said.

DuPage Township Trustee Reem Townsend said Moms For America is “nothing more than another rightwing hate group.”

“I call on every member of this board not to normalize them,” Townsend said.

Welch and Townsend were among more than 20 people who either spoke or wrote messages against Moms For America. No one reportedly spoke or wrote in support of the organization.

Judy Ogalla, the Republican chairwoman of the board that is evenly split down partisan lines, said the issue first began when the board’s Republican leader, Steve Balich, wanted to recognize June as family month.

“In there, [Balich] also wanted to recognize Moms for America because we have members that sit on our caucus today and other members who are part of Moms for America,” Ogalla said. “They’re about promoting family values, making sure moms have a voice in the school system, that schools don’t run amok.”

In 2020, Ogalla and Balich voted against recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride month while six other Republicans and one Democrat abstained.

Ogalla said she spoke with the board’s Democratic leader, Jacqueline Traynere, who received calls and messages about the issue, and Traynere recommended pulling all three proclamations from the agenda.

During the meeting, Traynere said she was told about the family month proclamation and that Moms for America would be mentioned.

“I thought, ‘Well, this is a compromise.’ If we can have the Pride proclamation, then I can live with this other proclamation,” Traynere said, adding, “I believe in compromise.”

After getting calls and messages about the issue, Traynere said it “made sense” to just remove the three proclamations from the agenda “until we could correct our rules” on how they get onto the agenda in the first place.

At the meeting, Balich said he was the one who brought forward the Juneteenth proclamation. He said he doesn’t “look at black people or LGBTQTRX, whatever the ... rest of it is, I don’t put people in boxes, we all shouldn’t put people in a box.”

“We look at the human being,” Balich said of Republicans. “What your actions are, not so much what you say.”

Balich disputed the Southern Poverty Law Center’s designation of Moms for America as a “hate group.” He said the group is “standing up for children.”

Ogalla said, “We do not want to hate anybody or exclude anybody.”

Democratic county board member Elnalyn Costa considered it a shame in 2023 the board could not “proclaim, celebrate and recognize our queer brothers and sisters without controversy or compromise.”