Harassment over Rainbow Story Time not welcome in Stanislaus County | Opinion

The Modesto Bee Editorial Board
·2 min read

Maybe those expected Tuesday to protest an upcoming library Rainbow Story Time backed down because they realized their message of intolerance toward the LGBTQ+ community would not resonate with a majority of Modesto and Stanislaus County.

Maybe would-be protesters saw Tuesday’s county supervisors’ published agenda — including an official proclamation declaring June as Pride Month in Stanislaus County — and figured their timing was bad, the room packed as it was with proud Pride supporters.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community pose for pictures as supervisors proclaimed June 2023 as Pride Month in Stanislaus County during a board meeting in Modesto, Calif., Tuesday, June 6, 2023.
Members of the LGBTQ+ community pose for pictures as supervisors proclaimed June 2023 as Pride Month in Stanislaus County during a board meeting in Modesto, Calif., Tuesday, June 6, 2023.

Maybe they’ll be back another time to attempt scaring observers into thinking that Rainbow Story Time must be a sneaky way to expose young children to an alternative lifestyle, to persuade them to question their identity, to groom them for evil.

Opinion

This much is certain: Modesto’s LGBTQ+ community isn’t going to stand for any such foolishness.

Representatives turned out en force Tuesday. Speaker after speaker defended the previously marginalized, espoused inclusion and drowned out hate. And no one protested Rainbow Story Time, after all.

Jonathan Grammatico speaks in support of the LGBTQ+ community during a Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors meeting in Modesto, Calif., Tuesday, June 6, 2023.
Jonathan Grammatico speaks in support of the LGBTQ+ community during a Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors meeting in Modesto, Calif., Tuesday, June 6, 2023.

Good for Pride Month supporters, for saying what wouldn’t have been said not many years ago, when some — tragically — cowered in fear.

Good for supervisors, for standing up for the dignity of all members of our community.

Rainbow Story Time isn’t brainwashing

Rainbow Story Time — planned for 4 p.m. June 15 at the Salida Library — is not a provocative, brainwashing event with crude jokes or adult material. It is a time to read stories, sing songs, dance and celebrate love. It is appropriate for all ages and faith communities.

Those who don’t want to go, shouldn’t. Staying away is absolutely their choice and their right. No one gets hurt — emotionally or physically.

But harassment, intimidation and threats have no place in society, including libraries and meetings of county leaders.

Protests elsewhere, seen on television news, are troubling. When people exercise free-speech rights in such a way, they’re simply voicing a preference that members of the LGBTQ+ community get back in the closet and stay there forever.

Parents who want their children to grow up feeling safe, protected and open-minded should be encouraged and empowered, not shouted down by those with an unrealistic desire to be surrounded only by people who look and worship as they do.

Society suffers when anyone gets to decide who doesn’t belong.