LGBTQ+ activists gather to protest County Board Chairman Larry Schmidt during April meeting

 

By ERIN SANSON
Enquirer~Democrat Reporter

Activists and protesters gathered outside the Macoupin County Jail, where the County Board meetings are held, on Tues., April 8. The group was present to protest Board Chairman Larry Schmidt after he made comments online regarding the LGBTQ+ community.

The protest was organized after Schmidt made a comment on a Facebook regarding Anheuser-Busch’s decision to suspend sponsorship of the St. Louis Pride Parade. Schmidt’s comment read, “Now is a great time to do away with Pride. You can be queer, but you don’t need to march in the streets to show off your disability.”

The protesters, a group of all ages and backgrounds, and many carrying signs and Pride flags, began to gather at 5 p.m., an hour before the meeting was set to take place.

A little before 6 p.m., protesters made their way into the meeting room, with overflow directed to the conference room at the voting center, where they could watch the proceedings through Zoom.

 

 

Chelsa Pruden, organizer of the protest, spoke to the board regarding her concerns over Schmidt and comments he made on various social media posts, not just the one that sparked the initial controversy. “What started as one comments about Pride funding,” Pruden said, “became something much bigger. It turned into a pattern I saw of hateful posts on Facebook… That mock and target the LGBTQI community, also every other community you can think of.”

Pruden condemned Schmidt, saying that as a public office holder such opinions would not just stay online, and his opinions can make people feel unsafe and unwelcome in their community.

Pruden said to the board, “You all were elected to represent everyone in this county, not just people who look or love like you. That includes queer people. That includes trans people. That includes kids who are still figuring out who they are. When a board member makes public statements that spread hate, fear or misinformation it’s not just disappointing, it’s dangerous. That’s why I’m asking this board to take a real public stand, not just with words this time, but with action. I ask that you issue a clear statement confirming your commitment to safety, inclusion and the dignity of the LGBTQIA community in Macoupin County and I also ask, does this board have a code of ethics? Because if not, you need one, and if you do have one it needs to be updated to include expectations around hate speech, both in person and online and it should be clear that board members are held to a higher standard and should not be spreading bigotry on social media where it can publicly be seen by everybody who voted for them.”

Pruden finished by stating, “This isn’t just about politics.This is about human decency. It’s about the kind of community we want Macoupin County to be, because ignoring this is not going to make it go away. We will be here until this stops, until he’s [Schmidt] gone. We can’t have this representing us. I won’t stop until he’s out of here.”

Before Pruden made her statement to the board, three board members, Holly Klausing, Ryan Kilduff and John Blank addressed the board, condemning the words and actions of Schmidt.

Klausing stated that, “recent comments made by the county board chairman regarding members of our community were inappropriate and do not reflect the values of respect and freedom of speech our county should uphold.”

She also encouraged all county officials to focus on promoting policies to benefit the entire community while maintaining professionalism and a standard of respect.

Kilduff stated that he found not only the comments made by Schmidt to be wrong, but the conduct following such comments to be “even more disturbing.”

“The fact that after it blew up on social media,” Kilduff said, “that you conducted some impromptu county board meeting, which failed to invite three of us, for a straw vote, in regards to if you should remain in your position or even as a county board member. I can assure you, I didn’t vote you on the County board, your constituents did. In regards to you as the Chairman, I did and was part of that vote. If I could rescind that vote, I would.”

Kilduff continued, “After we had this breach of the Sunshine law, then we find out we’re having this event here and instead of moving to a bigger venue to face all the people we go by closed circuit TV, even though we use the Courthouse all the time.”

He finished his statement by saying, “I think we need to do better, and we definitely do not need to fail and cause distrust and not show transparency in regards to our function and what we are trying to do here.”

John Blank, who also represents Gillespie on the board, stated that the comments made by Schmidt do not reflect his views and that he takes pride in ensuring everyone feels respected, valued and included.

Schmidt also made a statement to the board and gathered activists. He addressed what had started the controversy, a comment he made on a post regarding St. Louis Pride and said that having seen past Pride events he saw behavior and expressions of sexuality he found to be inappropriate. He also stated that he recognized that his comment was inappropriate and apologized for it, saying if he could take it back he would. He also stated that he would listen to his wife from now on, who told him to stay off social media in the first place. He then said that he was not a hateful person, which caused activists in the crowd to question this statement, as well as hold up signs containing several of the posts Schmidt had shared on Facebook with similar comments.

After several similar comments, where Schmidt stated he did not have a problem with gay people and push back from the audience, County Clerk Pete Duncan had to step in to remind the crowd that under the Open Meetings act only those holding the floor could speak and asked the audience to remain silent as Schmidt made his address.

Schmidt also reminded the audience that he was just one vote on a board of 18 members and did not have the influence to sway votes one way or the other and that he has never made his feelings known to the board.

Christy Lowder and Jordan Bartok also spoke before the board, condemning Schmidt for his statements. Lowder pointed out that Schmidt’s comments would embolden bullies and that he did not actually apologize but gave excuses for himself and his behavior. Lowder said, “I did not feel included. You did not make me feel included. Shame on you.”

Bartok stated that she was concerned if Schmidt could not grasp the “small, simple concepts” of love, kindness and respect that she, as a parent, was trying to impart on her children who, “do not even have fully developed brains.”

Read the full story in the April 17th edition of the Macoupin County Enquirer~Democrat!