outfest

I went to West Chester today. Last week I read an article about how the Outfest event planned in the town this weekend was canceled. A permit to block off a section of a street was revoked due to threats of violence. In response, a rally was planned in front of an historic courthouse, which due to weather was moved inside the building of the Chester County Historical Society.

This was my first visit to the area, almost an hour away, so I left a little early. I stopped at the library to pull up directions but still got lost once I was in town. I figured out roughly where I needed to be and parked in a garage then circled the courthouse on foot looking for an open door, thinking the event was moved inside there. I saw a drag queen and ran over to ask directions, and she led me to the rally.

There were fifteen speakers, organizers, members of the local community at large, leaders of religious and non-profit groups, and politicians. Several spoke of a battle of love and hate, all concluded that love wins. The mayor said that if you love somebody or something then you have to fight for it, and a member of the school board implored the audience to be good students, to research and to have good attendance, then to become good teachers. The presence of drag queens was offered as the reason for the cancellation of the original event to begin with per the report I'd read last week, corroborated by the queen who directed me earlier then spoke at the event. Crowned Miss Pridefest two years ago, she concluded her speech passing the crown to another queen.

Some of the speakers sized the protesters at eight to ten people, some of whom stood across the street from the building where the rally was held chanting prayers as we entered. On our way out I think I counted two remaining, surrounded by a small group of people asking questions I couldn't hear. We marched around town. Some drivers honked, and some shopkeepers stepped out to wave support. Some local law enforcement positioned themselves at some intersections enforcing breaks in the parade. One angry-looking officer sped by and yelled from his window to "obey the law!"

I stopped to get the dogs a snack on the way home. The bakery was already closed so I went to Wawa for a soft pretzel, a double so I could have one, too. I thought we'd go for a long hike this morning, but the remnants of Ian were rolling through. It was still raining when I got home, light enough for a walk around the neighborhood after we ate.

Last night I went to a neighbor's for a patio chat. We shared a small bottle of apple cider with ginger snaps and caught each other up on the last few month's of goings on. She ran out to pick up dinner for her family beforehand and texted to check the sunset, which I was glad to catch. At trivia on Tuesday another neighbor invited me back to the firehouse tonight for their son's going away party. He's enlisting in the Navy so to mark the occasion his friends and family threw a surprise party, which I was also glad to catch after our rainy walk. There I met another fifteen or so people, volunteers at the house and neighbors around town. I failed to pocket some of the food to sneak home for the dogs.