Gay country artist pulls out of Kentucky festival following calls of protests
RUSSELLVILLE, Ky. (WBKO) - A country music artist announced he has removed himself from an upcoming performance at the Logan County Tobacco & Heritage Festival due to questions surrounding his sexuality and calls of protests.
Queer country artist and Russellville native Adam Mac made the announcement on social media Thursday Sept. 21, saying he received a call from someone on the festival’s board who told him that there were some board members and people in town concerned about what kind of performance he would be putting on at the festival and wanted to ensure that he would not be promoting “homosexuality or sexuality in a family-friendly environment.”
“It was made aware to me that there were people in the town that were very upset that they would have a gay person headline the festival,” Mac said in the video. “To know that there are people who are angry that they asked me to come and perform in a town that I was raised in for 21 years of my life. Sure, they have the right to not listen to my music. They have the right to not come to my show. But what’s happening now is they are protesting, they’re showing up at the chamber, they made comments online and to the chamber that they will be holding protests at the show, which is just so disheartening.”
After learning about what was happening, Mac says he debated whether or not to perform at the festival, before ultimately deciding to cancel his performance.
Adam Mac was scheduled to perform in the Grand Finale Concert in the festival on Oct. 14.
On Thursday, not long after Adam Mac made his announcement, the Logan County Tobacco & Heritage Festival posted on Facebook that the Grand Finale Concert and fireworks had been canceled due to “circumstances beyond our control.”
The next day, Friday Sept. 22, both the festival organizers and the Logan County Chamber of Commerce released a statement regarding the cancellation of the event, clarifying it was due to Adam Mac canceling his performance in the concert.
“This year’s festival was scheduled to conclude with a Grand Finale Concert on October 14 with a performance by country music artist and Logan County native Adam Mac. However, following threats of protests, Adam Mac made the decision to cancel the concert due to safety concerns for himself, his band and the concert attendees,” the statement reads. “While we did not request him to cancel, we respect his decision.”
The statement ends with both the chamber and festival organizers saying they hope the community enjoys all the events planned for the next few weeks.
The Logan County Tobacco and Heritage Festival is an annual celebration that happens every fall and features dozens of events throughout a three-week period.
This year, the festival is scheduled to start Sept. 23 and end on Oct. 14.
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