“I've always received death threats, hate mail for doing drag queen story hour. This time it felt very close to violence.”
Kyle Chu was reading to preschool-aged children at the San Lorenzo Library in Arizona in his drag persona Panda Dulce Saturday afternoon when the Drag Queen Story Time event, part of a Pride Month celebration, was disrupted by a gang of men shouting homophobic and transphobic slurs, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
“The men were described as extremely aggressive with a threatening violent demeanor causing people to fear for their safety. Deputies responded to the scene and were able to de-escalate the situation,” the ACSO wrote on their Facebook page.
The eight to 10 men in the angry mob are believed to be associated with the Proud Boys, a far-right wing hate group.
“It was extremely loud. It was like a cacophony of voices just yelling over one another, taunting me, calling me a groomer, a pedophile, a tranny, and an ‘it,’” Dulce told KPIX. “[They were] interrogating the parents, ‘Why are you bringing your kids to this?’ I didn’t feel safe because one of them was wearing a shirt with an AK-47 on it. And it said, ‘Kill your local pedophile.’”
Hoping to ease the tensions, Dulce eventually retreated to a back room in the library until law enforcement arrived.
“Fear, confusion, alarm. I remember one child looked to their mom and was like, ‘What's going on? Why are they raising their voices? Who are these people?’” Dulce said. “I was raised by mostly straight people and I did not turn out straight. There's no agenda here, except for being able to accurately reflect the diversity of our world. And because any one person's world view can't tolerate that doesn't mean we should deprive children of that.”
The ACSO said there are several possible charges that could be levied at the men who made up the angry mob including annoying and harassing children and charges associated with committing a hate crime.
“They want us to disappear. They want us to not exist so they don't have to confront their own discomfort with the idea that there are people different from them in the world. But guess what? There are people different from you in the world. And we're going to stay here. And we're going to continue doing what we're doing. And we're going to be visible about it,” said Dulce, who finished the event after the men were escorted out.
The website for Drag Queen Story Hour describes the event as “just what it sounds like - drag queens reading stories to children in libraries, schools, and bookstores. DQSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models. In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress up is real.”
Meanwhile, the ACSO said they will beef up security for the remaining Pride Month events in their jurisdiction.
“ACSO will dedicate all resources to ensure the safety of members of our LGBTQ community. We will make sure any future events at the library are safe against hate speech and threats of violence. As we celebrate Pride Month, we will be swift in our response to any incidents where there are threats to harm members of this community,” Lt. Ray Kelly wrote on ACSO's Facebook page.
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