In an email shared with The Voice of Freeport the local group, Feminist Freedom Coalition has made demands upon the entire Stephenson County Board. This follows a day in which the group coordinated a protest in downtown Freeport and statements released by Alvin Wire yesterday afternoon further inflamed the situation.
Mr. Wire released similar statements to Rockford media outlets yesterday in which he declared he “should not have made” his initial statement earlier this month and believes “I have received good support equally divided between men and women. The common response is ‘what you said is the truth.”
The full response from the Feminist Freedom Coalition is included below:
To the Stephenson County Board;
To those of you that stood in solidarity with us on Saturday July 25th we wish to say, “Thank you.” Publicly standing with us as we spoke against Mr. Wire’s reprehensible comments displays an awareness of community needs that are often overlooked. Ignoring public outcry is no way to govern, particularly in a community as closely knit as ours. The people who shared their stories are our neighbors and co-workers, friends and family. It is precisely because of this that the sexism Mr. Wire exhibits with his words must continue to be addressed by you, his fellow elected officials. It is only by action within a community that a community may change.
To those that didn’t show up, we would like to ask why you chose not to attend? It seems prudent to be present for community demonstration against words from the very table at which govern that same community.
To those that have not responded, your silence is once again deafening.
Mr. Wire, who are these men and women who agreed with you? By saying it was “politically incorrect” you are being dismissive and insulting the intelligence of the women of Stephenson County. We see through this non-apology. You’ll speak to Rockford media but will not reach out to those that gave you the Direct Action Call? It’s appalling.
This is a direct call to action. We will continue to demand that Alvin Wire resign. We demand that it be read into record what his comments were, what they were pertaining to, the subsequent repercussions thus far of those comments, the official stance of each board member in reference to those comments, and each board member’s stance on our demand that Wire resign. We demand that this be read into record at the August 20th Stephenson County Board Meeting. We also demand that each board member take not only sensitivity training but a course on implicit bias.
We will not be silenced and we will not back down. If our demands are not met we will continue to apply pressure by whatever means afforded to us as citizens of Stephenson County.
Thank you for your time, for the actions taken, and for your show of support.
Sincerely,
Feminist Freedom Coalition
At this time the local petition demanding Alvin Wire’s resignation currently has 876 signatures on change.org.
Carl Utt is a local Gay Atheist Liberal Democrat Insurance Agent, newly minted citizen journalist/activist, official pain in the ass of elected and unelected officials, and believes we’re currently presented with a once in a two lifetimes opportunity to change the world, right now. He can be reached at progressivevisionil@gmail.com or 815-616-5856.
