NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Demonstrators organized by right-wing activist and painter Scott LoBaido picketed a Drag Queen Story Hour event on Saturday afternoon and were met by leftist counter protesters.
New York City Drag Story Hour, a non-profit that organizes storytelling and creative arts programs for children and teens, hosted the event at the Staten Island Children’s Museum in Snug Harbor at 1 p.m.
Chanting was audible to the children inside the museum, but the event was able to carry on as planned.
The protest was billed as a rally to “end the grooming of America’s children.”
Baseless attacks on gay and trans people as “groomers” — pedophiles determined to brainwash children into becoming gay themselves — have become an increasingly popular tactic among right-wing media and politicians.
Alongside the rise of this bad-faith rhetorical strategy has come protests targeting drag events nationwide.
In Colorado, a mass shooter targeted a drag show for adults at a gay bar, killing five and injuring 18.
Dozens of protesters and counter-protesters gathered outside the museum during Saturday’s event.
Some of the right-wing protesters sported branded Proud Boys clothing.
The Proud Boys are a fascist gang and hate group infamous for political violence and their alleged role in the Jan. 6 riots.
Members of their group have physically attacked political opponents at New York City protests in the past, but Saturday’s protest and counter protest stayed peaceful.
Janet Burns, an independent reporter for the Twitter account PRO_NYC who attended the event, told 1010 WINS families were upset the chanters were audible and that their kids were exposed to the politicized drama unfolding outside.
“A couple families seemed pretty flustered. They were frustrated that the chanters were audible. What they [the right-wing protesters] have been saying is, ‘leave the kids alone.’ Which is very ironic of course, because here they are harassing kids.”
Passers by were split on whether they supported the protest, according to Burns.
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