Shorewood cafe can hold all-age queer variety show, Village Board says

A community board game café in Shorewood is experiencing backlash for its quarterly, all-age queer variety show.

But there’s nothing in state law to prevent the shows from happening, Shorewood’s Village Board decided Wednesday.

Critical Grind Board Game Café hosts a variety of events, including trivia, art classes, bingo, board game events, writer networking, home-school meetups, a silent book club and pop-up bakeries.

Critical Grind also hosts queer coloring events, queer trivia and its quarterly all-age queer variety show. Sheri Tucci, a home-schooling mother in Channahon, expressed her concerns.

Tucci said she learned about Critical Grind while looking for activities that home-schooled middle and high school students could enjoy. She saw a flyer for the queer variety show, scheduled for Sept. 22, when she visited the café. Tucci said the events were “marketed and soliciting specifically minors.”

We believe that everyone, regardless of age, race, gender or orientation, deserves a space where they can feel safe, respected and celebrated for who they are.”

—  Dana Buxbaum, co-owner of Critical Grind Board Game Café in Shorewood

Tucci said she’s versed in Illinois state statute and only three entities – libraries, schools and museums – are exempt from “questionable and what we would consider pornographic material.”

“This is none of those,” Tucci said. “This is a privately owned business.”

Tucci was the only person at the Village Board meeting to speak out against the event.

State Sen. Rachel Ventura, who was in attendance at the meeting, said she often patronizes Critical Grind with her children to play board games and has always found the venue to be family-friendly. Ventura said she loves that the U.S. has the freedom to choose.

“As a parent, if I felt something was not appropriate for my children, I can make that choice,” Ventura said. “We don’t need our government making those choices for us. We need our parents to be parents and our businesses to be businesses.”

David J. Silverman, attorney for the village of Shorewood, said case laws have declared these types of shows protected by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. Silverman said the state’s attorney also reviewed this matter and found no violation.

“You can’t stop them,” Silverman said of the queer variety shows.

Dana Buxbaum, who owns Critical Grind with her partner Shaun Tennant, asked the Village Board and the community to stand against the recent hate speech directed at her business and support free expression, inclusivity and the arts “in all their varied and beautiful and varied forms.”

“Our business is built on values of inclusion, diversity and community,” Buxbaum said. “We believe that everyone, regardless of age, race, gender or orientation, deserves a space where they can feel safe, respected and celebrated for who they are.”

Buxbaum said the queer variety show is more than another event.

“It’s an opportunity for our community to come together and experience performances that highlight creativity, self-expression and the celebration of identity,” Buxbaum said. “This event is meant to be a joyful, positive and inclusive experience appropriate for people of all ages.”

Buxbaum said drag, which has a rich history as performance art, is more than entertainment. It’s a “powerful medium” for “challenging societal norms, exploring gender and celebrating individuality,” she said.

Buxbaum said she understands that not everyone is familiar or comfortable with drag or queer culture.

“However, it is crucial to recognize that different perspectives do not justify inflammatory comments or efforts to undermine our business,” Buxbaum said. “This rhetoric does not reflect the values of compassion, understanding and respect that our town should stand for.”

Jeff Gregory, who owns Realty Executives Success in Shorewood, said he has attended the variety show, “unlike many people in this room.”

Gregory said his 75-year-old mother attended with him. And Gregory saw kids dancing and feeling good about themselves at the show, he said.

“If a kid feels good about him or her or themselves at an event – and their parents are supervising it – I think that’s a good thing,” he said.