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Shorewood residents and state senator clash over free-speech concerns at board meeting
Summary
Public comment at the Shorewood village board meeting featured opposing views over a planned "Queer Variety Show — All Ages" at Critical Grind board-game cafe: a resident urged the village to review state law on harmful material for minors while the state senator and the café owner defended parental choice and free expression.
At the village board meeting on Aug. 27, public commenter Sherry Tucci delivered a flyer and a statutory citation and asked the board to review whether a Sept. 22 “Queer Variety Show — All Ages” at Critical Grind could violate Illinois law regarding harmful material to minors. Tucci said she had vetted materials as part of her homeschool network and left copies of the flyer and statute with the clerk for the record.
"This is a queer variety show that's marketed and soliciting specifically minors," Tucci said, urging the board and counsel to examine the statutory language. She also provided details from the flyer about admission prices and ages and asked staff to review the event before it occurs.
State Senator Rachel Ventura, who spoke during the same public-comment period, responded in support of Critical Grind and parental authority over content choices. "We don't need our government making those choices for us," Ventura said, adding that her children have attended events at the café and that the business has been "friendly, family friendly, and put on a variety of events."
Dana Buxbaum, co-owner of Critical Grind Board Game Cafe, addressed concerns directly and described the planned show as "joyful, positive, and inclusive" and appropriate for people of all ages. "Our show is rooted in this tradition of performance art," she said, framing drag as a long-standing form of theatrical expression and asking the village to stand against rhetoric she described as hateful.
Mayor and village counsel both confirmed the state's attorney had reviewed the matter and, based on current information, did not identify a statutory violation. The state's attorney told the board that similar events have been found to be protected under the First Amendment and that the state's attorney's office "find[s] no violation of law from what they know or what they anticipate will go on there."
The board did not take any regulatory action at the meeting; speakers on both sides said they hoped the matter would be handled within existing law and that local parents and businesses would make the appropriate choices going forward.
The matter may return to the board if further complaints or new information are submitted before the event date.
