{"id":39922,"date":"2022-09-23T09:53:29","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T13:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=39922"},"modified":"2022-09-23T09:53:31","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T13:53:31","slug":"community-outfest-resurrected-as-rally-march-and-fundraiser-oct-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=39922","title":{"rendered":"CommUNITY OUTfest resurrected as rally, march and fundraiser, Oct. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em> @mikemcgannpa<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"WEST CHESTER \u2014 OUTFest may be cancelled, at least as originally envisioned, but now a rally and march in support of the county\u2019s LGBTQ+ community will take place, potentially a much larger event than the original plan.<\/p>\n

West Chester CommUNITY OUTfest, a two-block street festival featuring performers, activities, and vendors, was scheduled for Oct. 1 in the Borough to be held in support of the local LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n

The original event was canceled when the West Chester Republican Committee threatened on social media to protest at the event over planned performances by drag queens. The threat of protests led borough police to require more security \u2014 a cost event organizers could not afford, especially after sponsors \u2014 including Chester County Hospital \u2014 dropped out. That led to the cancellation of the event.<\/p>\n

Enter Unionville native and current Downingtown-area resident Eddy Foster (Editor\u2019s Note: Foster is the stepson of Times\u2019 Editor Mike McGann and has been a contributor of arts content for the site<\/em>) and Chester County Commissioner Josh Maxwell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard the news of the cancellation and felt the sense of urgency to respond.\u00a0 Within minutes Eddy and I began to coordinate our efforts to plan an event.\u00a0 My office staff, and my wife, immediately went to work to support Eddy\u2019s vision of a rally on the steps of Chester County\u2019s Historic Courthouse,\u201d said Maxwell.<\/p>\n

Foster said he felt that, in light of the event cancellation, that something needed to be done to demonstrate the community\u2019s support for the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community was excited for OUTfest and disappointed that the festival was cancelled,\u201d Foster said.\u00a0\u201cI felt it was important to respond with a rally to show friends, family, and neighbors in the LGBTQ+ community that Chester County supports and celebrates the multiple ways their community enhances our county.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rally is currently planned for Oct. 1, at 2 pm on the Historic Courthouse steps.\u00a0The event will feature local leaders and advocates, a short march through West Chester Borough, and will conclude with a party at Split Rail Tavern on Walnut Street in West Chester.<\/p>\n

The event is described as \u201cfamily friendly\u201d with face painting for kids. Proceeds from the 4 pm afterparty \u2014 which will include performances by local drag queens \u2014 will benefit the Trevor Project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa WEST CHESTER \u2014 OUTFest may be cancelled, at least as originally envisioned, but now a rally and march in support of the county\u2019s LGBTQ+ community will take place, potentially a much larger event than the original plan. West Chester CommUNITY OUTfest, a two-block street festival featuring performers, activities, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[13836,6518,13835,385],"class_list":["post-39922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-commissioner-josh-maxwell","tag-featured","tag-outfest","tag-west-chester"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39923,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39922\/revisions\/39923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}