Drag queen "Miss Jessica Rabbit" engages with audience members during the Drag for Democracy event at Betts Park on Saturday, July 23, 2022. Photo by Brian Hagberg.

Warren County Young Democrats Hold Inaugural Drag for Democracy

July 24, 2022

WARREN, Pa. – Drag shows aren’t often used to drive voter engagement, but the Warren County Young Democrats held its inaugural Drag for Democracy event at Betts Park on Saturday hoping to do just that.

“We were just looking to put on something for the community to promote general voter engagement,” WCYD President Sarah Foster said. “Just making people aware of the importance of voting, especially in this election cycle, and how important the positions of (U.S.) Senator, (Pennsylvania) Governor and Lt. Governor are.”

The evening’s primary entertainment was a drag show featuring local drag queens.

“(The drag show) is just us vocally and really firmly saying that we support the LGBT community in Warren,” Foster said. “These are all local drag queens. These are all people here. We’re here and we’re proud, and we’re trying to make a positive change to this community.”

Foster said the fact this event, and others like it, have sprung up across the region in recent years is proof that the community is becoming more accepting.

“It’s amazing to see how much this community has changed positively to be more loving and more accepting to all sorts of different people,” Foster said.

Warren County Young Democrats President Sarah Foster (seated) speaks with attendees at the Drag for Democracy at Betts Park on Saturday, July 23, 2022. Photo by Brian Hagberg.

While WCYD’s emphasis is on the current election cycle, Foster said she hopes future events can shine a spotlight on local elections as well.

“While this is a really important election year, I think it would also be great to show support for our local candidates and explain more positions to the general public,” Foster said.

The primary focus of the event’s panel of speakers, which included State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D, 181st District), Northwest Pennsylvania Democratic Caucus Chair James Heckman, Dr. Tyler Titus, and Chelsea Oliver – Democratic candidate for State Representative in the 4th District, was on the importance of the rural vote in November’s election.

“If you look at the past two or three election cycles, it’s been determined by two main groups,” Heckman said. “No. 1 is women. The second group we really need to focus on is the rural voters. In 2020, that’s what put Joe Biden over the top. We showed up. We need to do that this year.”

See Heckman’s full speech here:

Kenyatta, who visited Warren County during Warren County Pride 2021, opened his remarks by asking a question.

“Why is a black guy from north Philly in Warren County,” Kenyatta said. “Because I will tell you, every community is worth fighting for. The politicians who are fine with how everything works right now. Their worst nightmare is that folks in Warren, and folks in North Philadelphia, and folks in Erie and folks in Allegheny County recognize that we have more in common than we have differences. We have a lot more in common than the folks who have been able to buy the politician of choice. And we’re figuring that out.”

To bolster his point about the importance of rural voter turnout, Kenyatta pointed to the nearly 50 percent drop in democratic voter turnout in Warren County from 2008 to 2016.

“When Barack Obama won Pennsylvania in 2008, in Warren County 45.74 percent of the folks who showed up in that election were democrats,” Kenyatta said. “Now eight years later . . . turnout for democrats in Warren County was only 27 percent.”

See Kenyatta’s full address here:

Echoing Kenyatta’s comments, Foster said recognizing the commonalities rural voters have with their urban counterparts can help lead to a brighter future for both factions.

“These rural voices matter just as much as somebody in the city,” Foster said. “We have way more in common with our fellow Pennsylvanians in Philadelphia than a lot of Warren County residents really recognize. We have the same sort of poverty. We have the same sort of challenges as a lot of other people, and if we really embrace those communities, we can see positive change for everybody.”

         

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