meet the queer woman running for the kane county board.
A Kane County board member's anti-LGBTQ+ rant prompted Julie Forbes to take action.
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For me, and probably most other folks, the actions of my county board were never really on my radar.
Of course, I keep a close eye on national politics—as any queer or marginalized person is pretty much forced to do in this current reality. I also am probably in the top 1% of the viewers of my town’s City Council and school board meetings, which I make a habit of catching on YouTube and have often attended in person as well. But when it came to the goings-on at the Kane County Board, I was mostly unaware of what the 25-member legislative body controlling an annual budget of $405 million was up to.
That all changed last September, when Kane County Board member David Young went on a shocking anti-transgender rant during a completely unrelated meeting following the shooting death of Charlie Kirk. As I watched the meetings that followed and urged Young’s colleagues on the board to hold him accountable for his dangerous and bizarre remarks—calling LGBTQ+ people “evil” and part of a “culture of death” that Democrats had “embraced—I was similarly surprised by the mostly underwelcoming response.
Most county board members—18 of the 25—did not respond to any of the three comments that I shared with the board, and ultimately little aside from a neutered proclamation against “hate” really came out of the community outcry that resulted from Young’s remarks—or at least that was the case until Julie Forbes, a retired corporate leader based in Geneva decided to enter the race for a seat on the board. Forbes was present with her wife and partner of 24 years, Denise Theobald, at the meeting where Young lashed out against the trans community and witnessing his comments fueled her to take action.
“It was just horrible. I was sitting there and I couldn’t believe this happened on my county board,” Forbes told me in a recent interview. “My opponent just sat there, no pushback, and that’s been a recurring theme when it comes to a marginalized community. We have to step up and challenge the lies and misinformation and that was not happening.”
(Ed. Note: In an email, Juby pointed out that Young’s comments were made during the public comment segments of meetings, which are protected by the first amendment and stated, “My commitment to marginalized communities is not performative; it is a reflection of my personal experiences and my votes to protect the LGBTQ and immigrant communities, as well as other marginalized members of our community, are on record.”)
Now, just a few months later, Forbes is in the home-stretch of her run for a seat on the Kane County Board in the county’s 11th district, which includes much of downtown Geneva as well as smaller parts of St. Charles and Batavia. She is challenging incumbent Leslie Juby, a fellow Democrat, who has served on the board since 2022. (Another Democratic candidate, Kate Monteleone, will challenge Young for his 15th district county board seat, which includes parts of Campton Hills, Pingree Grove, and Elgin, in November.)
While Forbes’ campaign may have been sparked by anti-LGBTQ+ animus on the current county board, the issues she is passionate about expand beyond our community. Her campaign platform covers five areas: Public safety, human rights, fiscal responsibility, economic stability and environmental protection, which recently earned her the endorsement of Sierra Club Illinois.
With just a few weeks to go until election day, I spoke with Forbes, her campaign, and why she decided to jump into the county board race. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
(Early voting for the 2026 primary election in Illinois is already underway ahead of the March 17 election day. In Kane County, you can see a sample ballot and check your registration here. If you’re not in Kane County, you can check your voter registration here.)
You’ve been campaigning for a few months now. What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve encountered so far in this race?
My primary opponent [Juby] is an incumbent. She was on the school board for 20 years. She’s got name recognition. So our challenge is trying to touch the core Democrats as many times as possible for the primary, which is in another month. When I got into this, I got a lot of crap from the Democratic party: “What are you doing? Why are you challenging another Democrat?” It’s because we need to. Trump won because we weren’t challenging the system. My opponent talks as a Democrat, but her votes align with Republican values.
(Ed. Note: Juby served on the Geneva School Board for 12 years, she noted in an email. “I am a lifelong democrat who was shocked to be told there were no democratic primary ballots at my polling place when I first moved to Geneva 30 years ago. I have an exceptionally high democrat score,” she added. “I am running as a democrat because I am a democrat. My ability to work with the minority party does not negate my democratic principles.”
Juby’s campaign also posted her voting record to Facebook in a post on Sunday and said she “consistently back[s] public health, environmental stewardship, inclusion, and strong local services — and I am not afraid to break from my own party when spending lacks transparency. I am a fiscally responsible, community‑focused, independent voice.” In a separate post, she directed her followers to her campaign platform.)
The other challenge is just the time. I do a lot of meet and greets—at least two a week—where I invite people either to our house or we go to theirs and I meet community members to spread the word about me. It’s going to be word of mouth, and it’s about canvassing.
I’m getting a lot of pushback and a lot of voices from the right, because they’re already scared of me. They don’t want me on the board because the Republicans back my opponent even though she’s running as a Democrat. They’re already starting the groundwork, but I’ve got a strong voice. I won’t be bullied and I’m not going to back down.
You mentioned that your wife, Denise, is also your campaign manager and that you’ve been together for 24 years and married for 10. Tell me more about your connection and how you met.
My story is not unique. I graduated from Iowa State with a degree in education and became a park ranger for a couple years, and then I changed my career and went into corporate America. But being a female in a predominantly male industry, I couldn’t come out because my career would’ve been at risk. I never came out until I was 40. I’d lived all over the country and then I moved to Chicago. Denise was working in the Boystown area, at a place called The Closet. She was a bartender on Monday nights and I was in between jobs and I was out and stopped in. I started talking to the bartender and asked her out.
COVID brought us close together. I was traveling for three or four days a week all across the country. And it kind of scared her that I was home all the time, but we got through it. It was a change for me, but it also got me to focus on what was important and it was family. When COVID ended, my company I was working for wanted me to be traveling again and I said, you know what? No. I quit. I have found a good life. I like it and I just don’t want to travel anymore. We bought a beautiful house here and we love it here. I retired early, but here I am again working again.
How has your experience been running as an out lesbian woman in this race, as well as your experience living out here with your wife? How has it compared to other places where you’ve lived?
I’m trying to be as straightforward as possible with the community. I’m proud and I’m out and people have been like, wow, you wouldn’t have been able to do that 10 or 15 years ago, telling the community that you’re married to a woman and you’re gay. And I’m like, that’s who I am. Take it or leave it.
But we almost didn’t move out here because Geneva is just not diverse at all on all levels. And we were concerned about that because with Denise living in the city most of her life, and us spending a lot of time down there, we missed the diversity of the city. Coming out here, we decided to take the gamble. Our neighbors love us. We live right by Geneva High School, and even the two Republicans who live around us, we talk all the time. It’s all about open dialogue, open conversation. We’re always on 3rd Street. We’re out in the community all up and down Fox Valley. So hopefully my contribution back is just talking to people, listening to them, and hopefully getting on the board where I can still be their voice.
It has been a great experience, but what we’re trying to do is work closely with some of the activist groups to get more people involved. I have a lot of friends that have children that are transitioning who are very afraid, but Denise and I are out here, we’ve got a very strong voice between the two of us and people know who we are and we are solicited all the time for help. No matter what happens in the campaign, I’m always going to be involved. That’s my contribution back to the community.
You touched on this earlier but can you explain more of your perspective on why it’s dangerous to let anti-LGBTQ+ views like those shared by Young go unchallenged?
When you just sit there and you don’t say anything, it looks like it’s accepted. And if we ever bend to that, that’s going to put us back 10, 15 years. I tell people that I’m running for a lot of different reasons, but another one is I’m afraid of losing my marriage to my wife. I mean, they’re coming for the immigrants now. They’re coming for people of color. They’re going to come for the gays. They’re trying it right now.
This board right now is [a majority] Democrat, but the right are still upset that they lost. It’s a blue board but I can hear in the room that the right wants to get rid of June being recognized as Pride Month. They want to completely DOGE Kane County, and what that tells me is that they would cut off all resolutions and any kind of support programs for our marginalized groups. So that’s a big part of what I can do.
I have to speak up. If you don’t have a voice, what do you have? And right now, the most powerful thing we have is a voice, but also having the facts and information to back it up. If somebody doesn’t say anything, we’re going to go down an ugly path and they will win and they will take over the board. And a lot of people will be hurt by that.
What do you say to the folks out there who feel disempowered and exhausted by everything that’s happening politically right now, who feel like there’s nothing they can do to make an impact?
A lot of those people right now are not only scared by what’s going on at the federal level, but they’re really bothered by what’s happening to the Democratic party because it’s always been the status quo. But the meetings where we have a room full of like-minded people is what’s motivating people to get involved. We walk out of our meetings with so many volunteers, people wanting signs, writing postcards because they get it. You have to attach to a candidate that’s willing to talk for you and willing to do the work for you. And that’s what I’m all about.
People don’t think they’re being heard. And I shut that down right away. I hear you and we’re going to get this thing straightened out. When I went out and got my petition signatures, people didn’t know what [county board] district they were in. They didn’t know who their board member was, and they don’t know what the Kane County Board does. They control a budget of $409 million and that’s not couch change. That funding helps the elderly and goes to the vets. It goes to marginalized communities and the Republican side wants to keep cutting that funding back.
So the biggest thing that people need to do is to really research their candidates. In the election, it is very important to know who you’re voting for, and with today’s technology, you can easily do that.
For more words from queer folks out here doing the work in the western ‘burbs and beyond, read my previous interviews with Batavia artist Annie Hex, Aurora organizer Javi, the organizers of Geneva Pride, Paramount Theatre artistic director Jim Corti, Aurora trans activist Penelope Torres, North Aurora musician Katie Bogle, Hoof & Horn’s Jarrod Johnson and Adrian Xavier Frost, Batavia activist Scott Naylor, Youth Outlook’s Carolyn Wahlskog, Ramshackle Farm’s Shannon and Eve Mingalone, Batavia’s LH, Aurora activist Fred Yanos, On Point Nails’ Hailey Conran, Batavia’s Martin Beirne, Naperville’s Beverly Trafton, Batavia’s Rhiannon Hammer and Aurora’s Myles Barnes.
Interviews like this one are accessible to all readers thanks to the paid support of your fellow Queering the Burbs readers. Beyond upgrading to a paid subscription, some other ways to support this newsletter and its mission include: Buying me a coffee, purchasing merch, and commenting on, sharing, or liking this post.
OF NOTE
Got some queer news relevant to the Fox Valley and surrounding area to share? Reach out in the comments or you can shoot me an email at queeringtheburbszine@gmail.com.
I wanted to reshare a GoFundMe campaign for community member Fred Yanos, who is a member of the Aurora LGBTQ+ Advisory Council and is facing ongoing medical challenges right now. If you are able to do so, please donate to support his treatment. Yanos and his advocacy work have previously been featured in this newsletter.
This is getting a bit ahead of the upcoming March events calendar, but here’s an early warning that gay comedian Kevin James Thornton will be at the Comedy Vault in Batavia on Sunday, March 8 for an event in support of his new book, Big Baby. Tickets for the show cost $36.
SONG OF THE RIGHT-NOW
I’m currently trying to train my Apple Music account to catch up to the years and years of listening data that Spotify has on me, so I can attempt to make the music streaming switch, which is not going particularly well.
The exercise has, however, forced me to rebuild a music library from scratch and lean back into artists that have been bringing me joy and comfort. One of them has been the tremendous trans singer-songwriter Beverly Glenn-Copeland, whose music I was first introduced to via the Transa benefit compilation album. Glenn-Copeland just dropped a stunning new album in collaboration with his wife Elizabeth called Laughter in Summer.
His music is truly a balm to my soul that makes me yearn for warmer, brighter days ahead. This song is called “Harbour” and feel free to consider it a belated valentine to all of you wonderful subscribers and supporters of this newsletter that you are more than welcome to pass along to the people you love in your life.
You’re my harbour, my rainbow
My promise of tomorrow
And my heartaches when your tears flow
But then spring breaks and that’s all I know