Chicago City Wire

In the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election, Beverly Unitarian Church member Anna Carviln opened The Castle, the church’s home, to “people who need support given the election results.” 

In Cook County, Trump and JD Vance received 366,183 votes, or 36.77% while Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz garnered 617,302 votes, or 61.99% of the total. 

Carvlin said she was responding to a community need when she decided to open the church’s property following the election. 

“The reality is we all know MAGA is a bunch of rapey weirdos,” Carvlin told Chicago City Wire. 

Carvlin declined to discuss the session in detail but said she was in the process of filing a police report because she had been “doxxed” and had been receiving calls from Trump supporters. 

“I'm going to go make a report and I'm letting the aldermen know and then my representative,” Carvlin said. 

After posting her phone number on Facebook noting Beverly Unitarian Church was opening the Castle to those grieving the election results Carvlin said she received harassing phone calls. 

Carvlin said that while “everyone is welcome,” she turned away requests from more enthusiastic Trump supporters. 

“Now, the MAGA dude who called me and asked me if he can bring a keg and all his buddies with their MAGA hats on. That was not in good faith,” she said. “No, of course not. He's not welcome because he was making fun and mocking.” 

Carvlin did say Trump supporters who fell victim to Trump’s “lies” and voted for him are welcome.

“If there was somebody – and there are many people who voted for Trump because they bought that his lies about making the economy better, we're going to come true and they did it in spite of his rape history and his objectionable moral standing in the world and they wanted to hash something out and discuss that moral quandary that they had – I would be more than open to having that conversation because I know a lot of people are dealing with that, too,” she said. “I'm open to having more conversations about this.” 

Carvlin said the church was similarly opened after Trump’s 2016 victory, but at that time she was not subjected to Trump supporters calling to see if they could join the conversation.   

“After the 2016 elections, we hosted ‘Better Angels’ and we had lots of different conversations and fortunately, it didn't draw the sort of right wing faction of the community,” she said. “So it ended up being yet another insular conversation.”

“But the idea was to see a need in my community that people were asking for and I responded to it because I had a need and they had a need and so that's what happened. And yes, of course I'm a member of the church and so that's the benefit you get for being part of a church is you get the community that you can talk with and be open about.” 

Beverly Unitarian Church, of which Carvlin is a member, has owned The Castle since 1942. The Castle also houses The Castle Preschool. The church bills itself as a "liberal Southside religious community." 

The community is led by Minister Rev. Allen Harden and holds services Sundays at 10:30 a.m. 

It focuses on topics such as “Social Justice” and “Environmental Activism.”

In 2023, the Castle’s social justice group led a “Palestine: Racism, Settler Colonialism and Apartheid.” 

The community also notes that it holds regular events on antisemitism.  

According to news reports, the Beverly Unitarian Church has been targeted in the recent past for its views.

In June, church leaders reported that a Pride flag was burned outside The Castle after the church held its first-ever Pride event, which attracted over 100 attendees. 

At the time, Beth O'Grady, chair of the church board of trustees, emphasized that such actions only strengthen their resolve. 

"We are about fairness, equity," O'Grady told CBS News. 

In response, the church put up more Pride decorations. 

The national Unitarian Universalist church has called for support of transgender youth noting this “means supporting trans/non-binary people, and dismantling racist colonial ideas," and “Transgender and non-binary youth have particular needs, and that there is more work to do to make sure that our circle is open to every young person called to our faith.”  

On its national website the church notes “unwelcome behaviors” that include joking about “men in dresses,” using “a/gender inclusive language as a joke” and “misgendering” people by using the wrong name or pronoun and “having only binary-gendered bathrooms.” 

In 2015, the Beverly Unitarian Church also faced backlash after including “Black Lives Matter” on its electronic sign out in front. 

Church leaders told DNAInfo the sign was initially intended to express support for the black community, but after a photo of it went viral, it led to heated debate, particularly in a neighborhood with many law enforcement families. 

In response to the controversy, the church changed the message to "Life Matters Risk Loving Everyone," explaining that while they still support the core idea behind "Black Lives Matter," they had not intended to endorse any specific organization. 

Later, from May 28 to Aug. 10, 2020 rolling riots in Chicago where rioters sported the “Black Lives Matter” phrasing occurred. 

The riots resulted in over 2,100 buildings being damaged or looted, 71 set on fire, 15 deaths and more than $66 million in damages, with over 1,100 arrests and 157 charges filed.