UpRising Closes For Good: 'We All Truly Thank You'

LAKE IN THE HILLS, IL — A Lake in the Hills bakery that hosted family friendly drag shows and supported gay rights has decided to close its doors.

Corinna Bendel Sac, the owner of UpRising Cafe in Lake in the Hills, said her cafe along Algonquin Road officially closed for good on Wednesday. She told Patch in March that she and her family, as well as employees and customers at her business, became the target of harassment — both online and in person — following backlash spurred from the business's family friendly drag shows.

At the time, she was grappling with closing, but $48,000 raised through a GoFundMe effort kept the business open. At the time, the business was $30,000 in debt and behind on rent.

"It was clear to me that there are people out there in the community that do want us, that value us, and I cannot turn my back on them," Sac told Patch in late March. "I cannot do that, and I won't do that, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that we are moving forward in a sustainable way to make sure we can serve the community for years to come."

Just two months later, Sac posted a lengthy post, stating the business would be closing "forever."

"People are angry everywhere. When someone is wronged, we cannot just make a donation and it’s all better, although it does help the immediate crisis, it doesn’t solve the problem. We have to actively work with people to help them unlearn and change their patterns. It is crucial that the patterns of bigotry, cancel culture, 'go woke go broke,' and the violence that we have been taught for generations be flipped on their heads. We must keep moving forward as a society, not backwards," she wrote.

The cafe, months after opening in November 2021, briefly closed last summer when a 24-year-old Alsip man, Joseph I. Collins, smashed windows at the business and spray-painted "hateful messages," according to authorities. The vandalism on July 24 was in response to a family-friendly drag show, which had been planned for that day.

Prosecutors alleged Collins used a baseball bat to break a glass door at the bakery and cafe, and spray-painted "groomers" on the side of the building, as well as “Christ is King” and another homophobic slur.

The business has gone on to host family friendly drag shows since then, and has drawn criticism from local Proud Boys and other critics. The shop has been vandalized, staff and customers have been harassed and Sac has been threatened, Sac told Patch earlier in the year.

Sac was born and raised in McHenry County and continues to live here with her husband and their children, who are 8 and 10 years old. She said earlier this year that her tax documents have been posted online and others have criticized her regarding her children receiving free lunches at school through a state program, which is based on income.

"This has all become increasingly worrisome for us," Sac said in March. "My kids are not OK with it, they are extremely anxious, they are very scared at home, and it's very stressful for my whole family."

In her Tuesday Facebook post, she lauded those who supported her business and gay rights.

"As queer activists, employers/employees, innovators, healers, and most importantly people, we live and breathe pride 365 days a year. eQuality, inclusion, and respect isn’t a fad diet for us at UpRising. It is not enough to only be celebrated and represented one month of the year," she wrote. "We stand steadily and proudly for freedom, hope, eQuality, protest, and activation in a every facet of our business. It was our honor to be part of this community, to be supported and loved by you, to be a positive representation, a safe place, a voice, in McHenry County."

She also said she planned to remain active in the community and thanked those who donated to UpRising.

"We all truly thank you for being a part of our dream and our journey, especially over the last year and I especially thank those who have donated their hard earned monies to us. I want to be abundantly clear, This is not goodbye. I promise you will be seeing A LOT of our faces and good outcomes will sprout from the hideous actions of so many, against us here. This will not continue to happen to people, not while I have a voice and a beating heart."

MORE ON PATCH

• Will UpRising Cafe Close?: Bakery Owner Decides Next Steps
• LITH's UpRising Bakery 'Finds A Way Forward' To Remain In Business
• UpRising Supporters, Detractors Pack Village Board Meeting
• Protests Planned In Response To Drag Show At LITH Cafe
• UpRising Cafe In Lake In The Hills Cancels Drag Show