Will County Gazette

Plainfield Pride to host All Ages Drag Storytime at an event to be held at the Prairie Activity & Recreation Center.

Pride at Parc will be held on Oct. 16 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The drag story time is one component of the day’s activities. 

“We are so excited for our inaugural PRIDE at PARC! Our vendor applications are available on our website! We can’t wait to celebrate with all of our community and allies! We will be doing more posts with updates! If you would like to volunteer, please fill out our volunteer form or email outreach@plainfieldpride.org!” Plainfield Pride noted on Facebook. 

The event is sponsored in part by the Plainfield Park District. Government funding in the area is increasingly being used to match drag queens with kids. A drag queen better known for adult-themed late-night shows will perform for kids and hosts a game of drag queen bingo at a Downers Grove library. That event and others across the state have received a lot of attention in recent weeks, Dupage Policy Journal reported.

The Association of Plainfield Teachers is also supporting the event.

Parental rights group Awake Illinois spoke out against the incident and has been outspoken in its opposition to others. The organization, which stated that "Parents expressed concern over the registration process of this event as it pertains to minors," launched a campaign against the event encouraging people to fill out their "call of action" form. It also raised a concern about minors being allowed to register for the event without a parent/guardian's approval.

Plainfield Pride notes its forum is meant to allow the “LGBTQIA+ community and allies to have a safe space and have equitable discussions on ‘sensitive’ topics and also a place for parents to set up play dates and make new friends.”