Oct. 18 was arguably the busiest day for Downtown Kent’s Rainbow Weekend event. 

Starting at 11 a.m. with the Visibility is Victory 5K and ending at 9 p.m. after the “Joy Unshaken” closing reception, the entire day was filled to the brim with events, artists and small businesses of the LGBTQ+ community. 

One of the biggest events at Rainbow Weekend was the Queer & Here Market, which took place in downtown Kent’s Acorn Alley. 

From noon to 6 p.m., Acorn Alley was lined with booths from local small businesses and artists, including DGerard Studios, Eris Emporium, Hayden’s Creationz, Joesoswag and, of course, a booth run by Kent Pride Fest.

However, Rainbow Weekend wasn’t the only event taking place in downtown Kent on Oct. 18 from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. protesters gathered at the gazebo located at 100 Franklin Ave. for the No Kings 2 Day of Defiance Rally and March protest.

The rally, organized by the No Kings organization, which according to its website, called for a nationwide movement to protest “billionaires, MAGA extremists, Trump and their political allies” and brought more than 7 million protesters together from across all 50 states, hundreds of which marched through the streets of downtown Kent. 

“I found it overall engaging,” says Ben Fleming, a freshman political science major who participated in the protest. “It’s nice to see people engage in politics.” 

While Fleming did share some criticisms of the rally, mainly that there was lack of cohesion brought on by several “single issue folks,” overall, he spoke highly of the event.

“I think it’s very important to engage in these political events,” Fleming says. “It’s the only way to show opposition to a status quo you don’t support.” 

“I attended No Kings because I believe that protesting can truly have an impact on society — especially one as large as this, and for how many things No Kings stands for in today’s politics,” says Casey Crooke, a sophomore computer science major.

Crooke also says that she was surprised by how many people were there, as well as how many of them there were adult, white men. 

“Historically and now, they are the least oppressed group of people,” Crooke says. “They’re not at all who I expected to see at an event like this.” 

No Kings didn’t stop members of the Kent community from supporting Rainbow Weekend. In fact, many protesters were spotted by a booth run by the The Davey Inclusive Playground Project, a fundraiser which is currently raising funds to add more accessible and adaptable playground equipment for Davey Elementary’s special education students.

Engaging in politics is a sentiment shared by many of the participants at Rainbow Weekend.

The argument could also be made that the existence of Rainbow Weekend is in itself a political statement. 

For the first time, this year, Rainbow Weekend donations won’t be going towards Kent State’s LGBTQ+ Center, since it shut down due to the passing of Senate Bill 1, but instead will be going toward the Portage Foundation. 

“It isn’t enough to just vote anymore,” Fleming says, speaking on the No Kings rally in particular. “We have to demonstrate that we don’t accept things continuing the way they are.”

Rebekah Hiles is a web writer and photographer. Contact her at [email protected].