Elmhurst's 'Liberal White Women' Rebuked

ELMHURST, IL – A conservative activist on Tuesday denounced the white women in the audience at the Elmhurst School District 205's board meeting.

Patrick Sheridan, the Illinois chapter president of Gays Against Groomers, spoke during the public comment part of the meeting.

He referred to "our community," but it's unclear where he lives. He has spoken at other government meetings. In March, he addressed city officials in Meridian, Idaho.

His group, which has a website, opposes what it says is the sexualization of children. It is aligned with conservative groups such as Awake Illinois.

At Tuesday's meeting, Sheridan, who called himself gay, held up what appeared to be a stuffed animal with a rainbow on it.

"This toy is a Disney toy, a toy designed for children," Sheridan said. "What do the rainbow colors represent? Lesbian, gay and bisexuality. This is an overtly sexual toy released by Disney and aimed at kids."

Then he spoke about the members of the audience. This was just after many of them urged the board to approve the novel, "American Street," as required ninth grade reading, a move local conservatives oppose.

"A lot of you guys, especially the white liberal women, a lot of you fetishize gay people," said Sheridan, who is white. "It's not really your fault. We were defined by our sexuality. Because we were oppressed, we had to solidify around it. Now, a lot of our community has unfortunately been defined by our sexuality."

Sheridan said the toy he was holding stood for "eating a big ol' p---."

"None of you realizes it's weird," he said. "I'm guessing some of you do. The ones who are brave enough to stand up would be the greatest allies of our community."

Sheridan pointed to the women in the audience. He said they were the "biggest existential threat to our community because all they do is put sexualized things inside schools and say it's just for the gays."

"Well, I'm a gay, and we don't want your help," he said. "You guys have LGB books in your schools. Those are books specifically designed to sexualize children – to make little boys think about s--king a d---."

He ended by calling the women in the audience "useful idiots."

"They are a plague on our community," he said.

The school board has a policy of not responding to public comments.