Illinois bakery can no longer hold entertainment events after planning 'kid-friendly' drag show
On Monday, NBC 5 News Chicago reported that a bakery in northwest Illinois that planned to host a kid-friendly drag show is being ordered by local village officials under zoning laws to stop hosting entertainment events — and the owner is alleging discrimination.
"Corrina Sac, of UpRising Bakery and Cafe, said in a Facebook video posted Saturday that village officials sent a letter a day earlier threatening large fines and the revocation of its business and liquor licenses if any more events are organized," said the report. "Sac said the letter came after a 'very threatening meeting' on Thursday, when she claimed she was first informed of the zoning issue and concerns over the public resources being used to protect her business. She insisted the bakery has been holding events since opening last November and now relies on them to meet its financial obligations."
The ACLU is vowing to defend Sac's right to hold events in court.
This comes after UpRising was targeted by vandalism, with anti-LGBTQ graffiti sprayed on the building and windows smashed out. Joseph Collins, a 24-year-old who has posed wearing Proud Boys gear and was at the Capitol during the January 6 attack, was arrested for the apparent hate crime, and the drag show was put on hold pending repairs even before village officials stepped in with zoning threats.
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“I feel like this is discrimination and a conspiracy to interfere with my business,” said Sac. “Unfortunately, when the attention waned from all the hate this week, they shifted gears and started victim blaming me after we were attacked by a known domestic terrorist who committed hate crimes against us just one week ago.”
"In recent months, the Proud Boys and other far-right agitators have targeted similar pro-LGBTQ+ events across the country," noted the report. "Using language popular among adherents of the unfounded QAnon conspiracy theory — which centers on an alleged cabal of Satanic sexual abusers operating a massive child sex trafficking ring — extremists have claimed kid-friendly drag shows are a tool for 'grooming' children. Members of the Proud Boys’ Northern Illinois chapter promoted a protest of the drag brunch with Awake Illinois, another far-right group that has advocated against critical race theory and mask mandates in schools."