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| Lori Macarus and family, Rev. Sean Dennison, Toni Palmer. |
If
I was that kind of guy, I might say that the Good Lord smiled on our endeavors early Friday evening in McHenry as
more than 50 joyous souls gathered on a street corner to vigil for marriage equality in Illinois. But I am not, so I won’t.
I
will simply point out that it was a glorious, sun lit gathering and while
temperatures hovered just around freezing everyone was comfortable and warmed
not only by the sun, but by each other and the overwhelmingly positive response
we got from passing motorists.
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| Sandy Ekert, Irene Raven, Rev. Dan Larsen, Cary MacDonald |
On
a corner diagonally across from us where Route
31(Front Street) meets and joins Route 120 (Elm Street)
in the shadows a handful of counter protestors gathered carrying signs that
said, if you could read them, “One Man,
One Woman, Baby”, “Honk if You Think Marriage Should be Between Men and Women
Only,” and what were probably scrawled Bible
quotations. Their ranks swelled from
4 all the way to 9 or 10. They seemed,
at a distance to be somewhat astonished and confused to see that the
overwhelming number of honks, waves, and cheers were of those of us on the
sunny side of the street.
Times
have changed in McHenry County and in the nation.
Members
of Tree of Life—A Unitarian Universalist
Congregation in McHenry County and PFLAG
were joined by folks from the Democratic
Party of McHenry County including new County
Board Member Nick Chirikos, and several new folks who heard about the vigil
on facebook or in the Northwest
Herald. Others passed by, parked
their cars and joined us.
Among
the latter I was cheered to notice a young guy wearing and IWW cap. When I greeted him
as Fellow Worker he was a tad surprised. It turns out that Ben Clifford is a Chicago
Branch member of the Industrial
Workers of the World and a member of a band based in the county. He and his mates were headed to a rehearsal
when they stopped by to join us.
Other
folks said that this was the first time they had ever done anything like that
and indicated they wanted to check out and keep in contact with Tree of Life
and PFLAG.
McHenry
has a reputation in the county as blue
collar. Many people, clinging to old
stereotypes, think that translates into Archie
Bunkerism and crotchety social conservatism. Just plain not true as the great response from
drivers indicated. Several drivers of service trucks and big rigs tooted their
horns and pumped fists out the window.
Marriage
equality touches all families now.
Support for legislation now semi-stalled in the Illinois House is growing almost faster than pollsters can
track. A solid majority now favors full
marriage equality and the last poll I saw only recorded about 34% strongly
opposed. But they are a noisy minority
and marshaled to action by almost frantic appeals from the Catholic Church and a shrinking number of Evangelical pulpits.
The
city of McHenry and its surrounding area are the most intensely Catholic parts
of the county. But like Catholics
nationally, local church members largely reject or ignore the Church’s
absolutist position.
With
this success under our belt and with the marriage equality bill likely not to
be called in the House in the near future, we will take this show on the road
to other McHenry County communities.
Look for an announcement of a vigil in Crystal Lake in about three weeks.
In
the meantime, keep contacting your legislators.
Be relentless. In McHenry County
we are targeting Democratic Representative
Jack Franks who has been dodging a commitment for or against the bill. Contact
his Woodstock office at 1193 S. Eastwood Drive, 60098 or phone 815 334-0063.
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| Early in the vigil--about 30 of the eventual 50+ participants. |
