A previous version of this article attributed a quote to Representative Diane Herrin that was in fact spoken by Representative Danielle Friel-Otten. The Quad regrets the error.
The steps of West Chester’s courthouse rang once again with the familiar cries of remonstration this past Wednesday, April 14, as swathes of people joined voices in what was known as the All Kids Belong rally. The rally, organized over Facebook, was in response to the recent anti-transgender social and political actions of Pennsylvania State Representative Martina White, who was set to be the keynote speaker of an event attended by several local business owners. Anti-trans laws are being proposed in over 30 states, causing national outcry. However, White carries on in the state senate against overwhelming public dissent aimed at her and a number of borough owners by extension.
The political action in question is House Bill 972, introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly on April 5 primarily by Representative Martina White, notably one of several lawmakers who urged congress to object to Pennsylvania’s Electoral College votes in December, as well as a laundry list of other PA politicians, including Barbara Gleim, Dawn Keefer and Valerie Gaydos. By its own words, the bill is known as the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, and attempts to hardline the gender designation for any and all athletic groups belonging to or competing against public institutions. The bill states that all of these team sports must be strictly designated as for “male[s], men or boys, female[s], women or girls, or co-ed or mixed based on biological sex.” Furthermore, “Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women or girls may not be open to students of the male sex,” and the inverse is assumed but not directly stated in the bill. The conflict for the LGBTQ community is obviously found in the legislation’s initial insistence of the term “biological sex,” which, for the purposes of the bill, is strictly defined as being “based solely on an individual’s reproductive organs, biology or genetics at birth.” This means that the enacting of this bill could prevent any transgender or genderfluid individual in the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from playing sports for or against a public school.
The story is the same across the country. Over 30 states have mirrored Pennsylvania, including North Carolina House Bill 358 (also titled the Save Women’s Sports Act) which insists on the same gender designations for teams and goes on to claim that “having separate sex-specific teams furthers efforts to promote sex equality” and that there is an unavoidable “male performance advantage” that is “largely retained by transgender women and thus remains substantial.”
This news obviously garnered the outrage of multiple human rights groups including the Pennsylvania LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus and the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, both of whom have publicly denounced the legislation, calling it a “ploy for political points” and a “sham bill” that ignores the “real unfairness in women’s and girls’ sports […] systemic underfunding, fewer resources, unequal pay, unbalanced media coverage and sexual harassment.” However, it wasn’t until more recent developments that the people of West Chester got involved.
Earlier this month, a post on Facebook began circulating advertising a reception supporting “initiatives limiting Governor [Tom] Wolf’s emergency powers,” organized by the Common Sense Coalition PAC, a smaller political action committee likely reintroduced to raise money for this event. The reception, held on Wednesday, April 14 at Teca Restaurant in West Chester, intended to feature HB 972 champion Martina White as the keynote speaker. $100 was the price for attendance per Facebook, with gold, platinum and diamond sponsorship levels costing $750, $1250 and $2500, respectively, in donations to the PAC. The benefits of these higher levels is unknown; however, the names of current donors and attendees were already listed, and from this list the West Chester community found some familiar faces. Guests, and therefore donors to the PAC, include Barnaby’s Owner Mike Gallen, Saloon 151’s Owner Frank Herron, Kildare’s Co-Owner Tom Fernesi and almost twenty other local CEOs and politicians. After the public outcry, Representative White was replaced as the speaker by Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry CEO Guy Ciarrocchi just days prior to the scheduled reception, but the connection between donor and event still exists and has been more than enough to invoke action from the community.
After originally sharing about the reception online, the activism organization group Chester County Marching Forward (CCMF) took to contrary demonstration in the face of perceived executive bigotry. On April 9, they published a Facebook event for the aforementioned All Kids Belong rally, the page for which reached 345 members in just five days. “We’re not protesting,” said CCMF representative Dana Wainstein, “this is a rally to support trans youth.” When asked about the change of speaker from White to Ciarrocchi, Wainstein held fast: “There may be a new speaker, but a tiger doesn’t change its stripes.” The CCMF released a letter the Monday before both the reception and the rally, asking Ciarrocchi to meet with them and reconsider the fundraiser. Ciarrocchi did not directly respond prior to the pivotal day.
As the bell tolled 6 p.m. and the Wednesday sun set over West Chester borough, the courthouse steps bore every sign of discontent. Amplifiers projected the words of several speakers, each framed by banners hung around the pillars on the historic building.
PA Representative Danielle Friel-Otten told the crowd that “because of your efforts the catalyst to this event was cancelled.” Dave Magrogan, CEO of Harvest Seasonal Grill confirmed over email that the group canceled White’s keynote after hearing of the LGBTQ community’s concerns. However, while Representative Martina White did not give a keynote speech, the alternate speaker Guy Ciarrocchi said that the event “proceeded as planned; about 60-70 people attended, many from area restaurants, and over $10,000 was raised” for the political action group.
Matthew Shimkonis is a second-year History major with a minor in Journalism. MS925373@wcupa.edu