Outraged residents raise money to support Pa. library denied county funds for hosting LGBTQ support
A Fulton County nurse scanning her local newspaper was stunned to see a headline that left her “flabbergasted.” According to a report by The Washington Post, Sarah Cutchall, 32, read the following headline in the Nov. 11 edition of the Fulton County News: “County refuses library request for additional funding,” with the subhead: “Opposed to LGBTQ+ group meeting at library.” Cutchall learned from the news story that while the Fulton County Library, located in McConnellsburg, has received $12,000 annually since 2016, the county commissioners had decided against approving an additional $3,000 in funding for the library, the report said.
One commissioner, Paula Shives, voted to approve the funding, but the reasoning behind the refusal of the county’s two Republican commissioners, Randy Bunch and Stuart Ulsh, to sign off on it, was because the library had recently agreed to host a biweekly LGBTQ support group — a gathering they did not agree with, The Post reported.
The Washington Post cited the Fulton County News, which reported that
both Republican commissioners said the LGBTQ group would be considered a “hate group.”
“If we support them, we have to support Proud Boys and Black Lives Matter,” Bunch said during a Nov. 2 meeting of the commissioners, according to The Post.
Cutchall said that she wasn’t allowing “these people to speak for me.” Wanting to send a message to the LGBTQ+ community that “they have allies in their corner,” she took action. On Nov. 11, hoping to raise $3,000 for the Fulton County Library, she started a fundraiser on Facebook. The move exceeded her expectations, and within just three hours, the goal was surpassed and reached close to $10,000 in a matter of days, The Post reported.
According to a report by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Emily Best, a local activist and former Fulton County resident now living in a neighboring county, also had an idea for how to push back. She launched a GoFundMe page that hoped to raise $12,000. By Tuesday morning, 382 donors had contributed $14,495 on Best’s GoFundMe page.
Between the two fundraising efforts, more than $40,000 has been raised in support of the Fulton County Library, The Post reported.
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/11/outraged-residents-raise-money-to-support-pa-library-denied-county-funds-for-hosting-lgbtq-support-group.html