McHenry County Blog

Here’s the end of the year summary from the Windy City Times about the Gay Games in Crystal Lake:

Crystal clear:

March 2 marked the beginning of the Crystal Lake controversy. The Crystal Lake Park District Board rejected Gay Games’ request to hold the rowing competition with a 2-2 vote, but later approved their request after a March 7 meeting. The agonizingly long meetings were filled with protesters and homophobic remarks. However, local supporters and PFLAG parents came out in droves to battle homophobia. Gay Games would later come before two other area boards before overcoming the final hurdle in April and gain approval for the summer event, which went off in July without a hitch and only a handful of naysayers.

And, on the Protect Marriage petition effort:

Sweet victory:

In the Spring, anti-gay group Protect Marriage Illinois ( PMI, a sister organization of the Illinois Family Institute ) hand-delivered over 345,000 signatures Downstate in an attempt to place an anti-gay advisory referendum on the upcoming November ballot. In the summer, Fair Illinois filed an official challenge to PMI’s marriage referendum petition with the State Board of elections. The GLBT community and its supporters rallied together, volunteering the necessary hours to check each signature for validity. The hard work of many ensured the anti-gay organization fell short of the valid signatures needed to move forward in August. This was a major victory for the state’s lesbian and gay community.