Pennsylvania
Small-town Pennsylvania drag show goes on despite angry local protest: ‘Not in this community!’
A pair of drag queens sashayed peacefully into a tiny Pennsylvania town Saturday after hundreds of residents campaigned to shut down their show for allegedly violating anti-pornography laws.
The show went on after conservatives in sleepy Millersburg, Penn., a Susquehanna River village with a population of just 2,541, erupted last month when local group Pride in the Valley announced a “Drag Dinner” fund-raiser in a storefront coffee shop.
“We thought it was fantastic, we would come again,” said attendee Nancy Rose who came from Sacramento, Pa. to the event, where potential protests failed to show up outside the Peace of Mind Cafe.
Drag queens Sarabesque and Sedusa were billed as the “sickening entertainers” at a $25 adults-only soiree at the 34-seat lunchroom on Millersburg’s main street.
Three days later, an anonymous opponent launched an online petition demanding “visual barriers” to block the cafe’s plate-glass windows during the gender-bending acts, citing a local ordinance outlawing any “performance which is pornography” where children can see it.
“The content of a drag show is inherently sexual in nature and has no business being exhibited to minors in Millersburg or anywhere else,” the appeal — which racked up 773 signatures — read.
“Not in this community!” wrote petition signer Jason Morrison.
“Take your sick social agenda and go bankrupt.”
On Dec. 20, opponents faced off at a hastily called meeting of the Millersburg Borough Council — where boosters claimed cross-dressing as a form of high art and detractors damned it as a sign of societal collapse.
“Would you send a petition to Shakespeare?” demanded Pride in the Valley organizer Heather Holloway, local news station WGAL Harrisburg reported.
“This is a battle between good and evil,” countered an unidentified resident.
After an hour of debate, the six-member council voted 4-2 to let the show proceed with no screens required.
The victory spurred Pride in the Valley to book three additional Drag Dinner seatings on Saturday and Sunday, all of which promptly sold out.
Protest leader Steven Blayer, pastor of nearby Hillside Christian Fellowship, said he accepted the council’s decision.
“Just because other places allow these types of shows, doesn’t mean Millersburg has to do it,” Blayer told the weekly Citizen-Standard newspaper.
“But I feel really good about our community coming together with disagreements and walking away in a spirit of peace.”
Peace of Mind Cafe owner Krystle Shearer told the Post she was happy the event went off without disturbance.
“I really love this community,” said said.
“Everyone is welcome, it’s ok for people to disagree.”
Pennsylvania
State College, Pennsylvania: 2026 USA TODAY 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards
Pennsylvania
What the war with Iran could mean for gas prices in western Pennsylvania
The war with Iran could start impacting your wallet as soon as today.
Jim Garrity from AAA East Central says oil prices are up.
“They’re hovering around $72. They were pretty consistently around $65, $66 for a while,” he said.
Nationally, AAA said the average for a gallon of regular sits at about $3, up approximately six cents from last week.
In Pennsylvania, it’s around $3.12 a gallon, and in the Pittsburgh region, it’s around $3.24 a gallon. That’s actually down about four cents from last week.
Garrity added that gas prices this time of year would already be increasing, usually because of higher demand for the warmer months and the production of the summer blend of gas used for those months.
The impacts of what’s happening in Iran may not be immediate, which could be part of why our region and the state overall have not seen a spike yet, he said.
“It could be a couple of days later. It could be up to a week later,” Garrity said.
A lot of people are watching what happens with the Strait of Hormuz. Iran borders it to the north, and 20% of the world’s oil goes through it.
Iran is one of the world’s biggest oil producers, and China gets a lot of that oil.
“If there is an impact there, you could see oil start to come in from other parts of the world, which has a downstream effect on [the United States],” Garrity said.
One way you can save on gas if prices increase in our area is by slowing down.
“When you drive faster every five miles, over 50 miles an hour, your fuel efficiency is going down,” Garrity said. “You’re making the car work harder, making the gasoline consumption less effective.”
Garrity added that in 2022, when our area and many others saw some of the highest gas prices ever recorded, people changed their driving habits.
“We saw people make seemingly permanent changes to their driving behaviors, driving less in general, consolidating trips,” he said.
Pennsylvania
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