Via press release from PBR
Lexington, KY – Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance (PBR) plans a Die-In, or symbolic funeral, to highlight the loss of lives and resources the Trump administration's so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” will cause. The Die-in will be held on Thursday, July 24th, at 7:30 PM at the Stephen's District Courthouse, 120 S. Limestone in Lexington.
Protesters will lie down on the pavement with tombstone placards listing what's being lost by Kentuckians because of budget cuts to critical social programs. The bill threatens to:
- Throw 210,000 Kentuckians off of Medicaid, and another 47,000 off of KYnect; even more will see their out-of-pocket healthcare costs increase.
- Close 35 rural hospitals in Kentucky, due to $12.3 billion in Medicaid cuts in rural areas — more than in any other state.
- Reduce benefits for all 562,000 Kentuckians receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), with an estimated 50,000 newly at risk of losing SNAP entirely.
- Shift costs to the state budget in order to sustain SNAP, making food assistance programs compete with funding for schools, health care, infrastructure and more.“These cuts will be felt by the most vulnerable people here in Kentucky and across the country,” said PBR founder Dr. Craig Blair. “Lives will be lost due to lack of access to healthcare and food, all for the sake of funding tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. It's reprehensible.”
The Die-in's strong visual impact is designed to send the clear and urgent message that these budget cuts will cause a real loss of life.
This is the third piece of street theater that PBR has created. Their “This is Fascism” protest, which identifies the building blocks of fascism that we already see occurring in this country, has been performed at many protests in Lexington, and has garnered more than 400,000 views on TikTok.
And they marched in Lexington's Fourth of July parade, with a coordinated sign-flipping drill that sent the message to “Resist” in a powerful and eye-catching manner.
PBR has organized or co-organized approximately 100 protests in the past six months. They hold four regular weekly street protests at busy intersections, and have worked with 50501 Kentucky, Progress Kentucky, 120 United-AFT, Gathering for Democracy, and Bluegrass Activist Alliance on the “No Kings” protest and other large national events. Their Facebook group has more than 2,900 members and is steadily growing.
The group's four weekly protests are:
- Mondays 7:30-9:30 am near Mitch McConnell's office at the intersection of Harrodsburg and New Circle Roads;
- Wednesdays 12:00-2:00 pm in support of veterans at Lexington VA Medical Center, 2250 Leestown Road;
- Thursdays 4:00-6:00 pm at the intersection of Nicholasville and Reynolds Roads; and
- Saturdays 1:00-3:00 pm at the intersection of Sir Barton Way and Man o'War.
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Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance was founded in Lexington, KY in February 2025 to organize public protests against the Trump administration's many illegal activities, including the unconstitutional dismantling of our government.
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