If there was an undercurrent to the exuberant inclusivity of the Homewood and Flossmoor communities’ first-ever joint Pride event Friday at Irwin Park in Homewood, it seemed to be a drive to share their acceptance and love.
Danielle Henson stopped for ice cream and stayed to support the cause after happening upon the festival while on a walk with daughters Draya, 3 and Damari, 4.
“Of course I support pride,” she said. “I want everyone to be happy and to be loved.”
Art therapist Emalee Kay, offering free face painting from a booth across the park, said the turnout and enthusiasm was gratifying.
“It’s an opportunity for queer people to feel welcome,” said Kay, a licensed clinical professional counselor. “In times like these, it’s important to have visibility.”
The event, coordinated jointly by the villages of Homewood and Flossmoor along with the H-F Park District, drew more than a thousand people over the course of the evening, according to organizers. It included a parade, food and drink booths from area establishments and music by DJ V, the Bel Canto Community Choir, and local band the PriSSillas. The festival also offered a chance to highlight community resources available to area LGBTQ youth and adults, including Flair, a biweekly teen-driven support group facilitated by adult advisors (and co-founders) Leslie Bolser and Andrea Tucker.
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“We each have LGBTQ kids,” said Bolser, explaining with a laugh that when their initial search for a support group came up short, “As you do with most things as a mom, I guess we are the resource now.”
Bolser credits the group’s success to the participants.
“We have about 10 kids every two weeks,” she said. “The older kids develop the programming for the younger members.”
For Flossmoor residents Cory and Daniel Curtain, the Pride event was simply icing on the area cake.
“I absolutely love living here,” said Daniel, explaining the couple moved here last year from Crown Point, Indiana. “My favorite thing about the area, besides Flossmoor Station? We love the inclusivity, but we actually moved here for the architecture.”
Preserving the area’s midcentury architecture, while leaving behind some of that era’s conventions is music to Flossmoor Mayor Michelle Nelson’s ears.
“We’ve come a long way since 1969,” she mused. “I’m so proud to live in a community that celebrates diversity in all its forms. Plus,” she added, “I get to dance.”
The Rev. Julie Van Til, pastor of Flossmoor Community Church, praised the teamwork that brought the event to life in the wider community, causing her church to forgo hosting its own Pride event for the first time in five years.
“The only reason we are not having a (Pride) festival is because the two towns are collaborating,” she explained.
Alongside LGBTQ resource guides, the church offered festgoers a prayer, or blessing, bowl — “however you like to think of it,” Van Til said. After participants wrote a prayer, wish, hope or intention on a small piece of paper, Van Til set it alight in a small glass bowl, leaving the ashes to accumulate as flames carried those hopes into the universe.
“I want people to know a different side of God than what they’ve been shown,” she said. To that end, Van Til also offered Communion to those wishing to partake, moving more than one person to tears.
Offering the Sacrament to marginalized or traditionally excluded community members dovetails perfectly with the inclusivity so prominently celebrated at the event, she said.
“We designed this for those who miss the sacrament of Communion because their church didn’t make them feel welcome at the table,” she said. “So, we brought the table here.”
Laura Bruni is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.