MONROE — Following weeks of debate and some protest, the Green County Board on Tuesday agreed to recognize June as being LGBTQ+ ‘Pride Month’ in Green County.

The measure prompted an outpouring of support and opposition to the measure in the weeks and moments before the final vote. But in the end, and after more than an hour of official discussion, the board voted 17-14 in favor of the resolution, which recognizes LGBTQ+ Pride Month this June, consistent with its designation as such nationally. 

Residents supporting the measure and some opposing it packed the Green County courthouse board room for the vote, and prior to the meeting the sheriff’s office advised it would assign extra deputies to maintain order and strictly enforce the meeting room’s 140-person capacity.

Among other verbiage, the approved ordinance encourages county residents to recognize the contributions of their LGBTQ+ neighbors, estimated to number at about 1,400 residents in the county.

The ordinance includes this passage: “WHEREAS the LGBTQ+ community continues to be the target of lingering social stigmas, suffering manifest discrimination in e.g., the areas of education, employment, health care and housing, and numerous studies have documented that inequities experienced by LGBTQ+ individuals result in e.g., poverty, homelessness, violence, mental health issues, and substance abuse concerns….”

Supervisors, of which there are 31, were given an opportunity to speak on the issue but no public comments were heard. Several mentioned that they had each received over a hundred emails related to the issue prior to the Tuesday vote. There have also been letters to the newspaper and many social media posts and comments.

“This resolution is about mental health,” said Sup. Kathy Pennington, addressing critics of the measure. “Many are missing the point.”

Sup. Sam Wilke suggested that since the county recognizes other causes in ordinances, including Dairy Month, it shouldn’t be controversial to recognize gay and lesbian citizens during pride month.

“I find it to be disgusting to put cows ahead of human beings,” he said.

But other supervisors, such as Sup. Joseph Snow, said that while they do not hate anyone, or wish to restrict anyone’s freedom, they didn’t feel such a resolution was appropriate for the county board to be discussing. 

Snow called Tuesday’s debate and turnout a “wonderful display of democracy” in action and emphasized that he has friends and colleagues who are gay. 

But he added that “I don’t understand why this has come to the county level as a resolution…,’’ a sentiment echoed by other supervisors who spoke in opposition.

At one point in the lengthy discussion, supervisors called for a motion to end debate on the matter but it failed narrowly. The discussion then continued for over an hour.

Sup. Brenda Carus, speaking in support of the measure, urged the board not to ignore the will of county board committees that had approved the idea in deliberations prior to its consideration by the full county board.

“Some … here feel we should not be voting on this resolution, that it is too divisive,” said Carus. “I disagree.”

What’s more, supervisors noted that the county’s own staff members, including those in human services, had come out in support of the LGBTQ+ community. One such letter, or memorandum, came from county human services director Dan Williams.

“Recognizing June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month in Green County would have a positive impact on the LGBTQ+ Community, and allow our staff to advocate and show support for individuals who identify as LGBTQ+,” Williams wrote, in a memo to the board. “While many strides have been made since the Stonewall Uprising, individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ still require institutions like ours to help address barriers and obstacles that inhibit their freedoms, growth as individuals, and safety.”

Once the vote was taken, officials took a short break to allow the gallery to empty before they continued with less controversial county business, such as approval of spending ARPA COVID-19 funds and approval of ATV/UTV routes in the county.