Pride flag debate heats up in Palatine

Palatine residents with opposing views on the Pride flag flying at village hall aired their opinions on the first day of Pride Month at Monday’s village council meeting.

Flag supporters went beyond words. Palatine resident Melissa Ortega using her time during public comment to invite audience members to stand and join her in flying the Pride flag during the meeting.

Outside village hall, Stephanie Arroyo and Angelo Calero wrote the words “Happy Pride” in chalk and drew a rainbow on the sidewalk.

Those who support the village’s refraining from flying the flag also showed up in force, some wearing shirts reading “Make Sense Common Again.”

One of them, Valerie Reed, suggested, instead of flying a flag for Pride Month, the village should hoist a flag to honor veterans, municipal workers or volunteers.

“I would be willing to design a flag for that,” she said. But she also said, while she has gay friends, “Flying this flag would be a little discriminatory to most Palatine citizens.”

The two sides clashed during the public comment period, when one speaker, Roman Golash, drew cries of protest when he said the Pride flag supports the mutilation of children and men in women’s sports.

Meanwhile, the village, which is not flying the flag, published a proclamation proclaiming June 2026 as LGBTQ Pride Month in the village is on its website.

The proclamation, signed by Mayor Jim Schwantz, states, “While there has been remarkable progress towards acceptance and equality in recent years, members of the LGBTQ community in the United States and around the world still face an unacceptable level of discrimination and violence.”

It also stated the village is “committed to supporting efforts to ensure equality and respect to all” and said Schwantz encourages “all residents of the Village to support the visibility, dignity and equity for all people in the community including our LGBTQ residents.”

But Palatine resident Paul Dombrowski, founder of the Northwest Suburban Pride and Action Network called the proclamation “pandering.”

“The purpose of flying a flag is not just to celebrate,” he said. “It is a declaration of acceptance geared toward young people.”

His husband, Joe Serio, who is president of the Palatine Township Community Mental Health Board, added, “Young people are not on Facebook anymore. They don’t see proclamations.”