Parents concerned after Republicans protest Iowa City library's drag storytime
Hayley Crabb didn't expect protesters to show up to a drag storytime event she brought her 2-year-old daughter to in Iowa City this weekend.
The Crabb family was among dozens of parents and children who attended what was billed as a Drag Storytime and Costume Ball event Saturday morning at the Iowa City Public Library. The event was met by a group of adult protesters organized by local Republican political candidates. Crabb said the protest, while minimally disruptive, concerned her and other parents at the event as they try to bring their children to family-friendly programming featuring drag queens.
Crabb said when her family first exited its car Saturday, they saw two men standing outside the library holding signs disparaging the event. She said her husband mocked the signs, calling them "funny." She said a protester called her husband "disgusting."
A video posted on Twitter shows one man wearing a T-shirt supporting Republican Iowa House of Representatives candidate Jacob Onken and holding a sign saying: "This library grooms children! DANGER."
Crabb said the protesters numbered 10-15 people, mostly white men, who didn't have any children with them. She said she went inside and got situated and observed that the library staff and performers seemed nervous. As the event started, the protesters clustered in the back of the room and Onken held up a sign during the entire event.
"It was very clear they were there to intimidate the performers and the library staff," Crabb said.
She said protesters often took photos of the parents, children and performers in the room.
More:Johnson County voting guide 2022: What's on the ballot, how to register and how to vote early
As seen in videos posted online of past drag storytime events at ICPL, drag queens garbed in colorful outfits and/or Halloween costumes read children's books to youngsters with their parents present. The readings are sometimes accompanied by slideshow presentations, music and other activities.
Onken told the Press-Citizen at a candidate forum later Saturday that he organized the protest because he was concerned the event was in a public space, using public tax dollars.
"My tax dollars are going to something that I think is just immoral and not right," he said.
The event did utilize library staff, who are paid by the city.
A drag queen, often a man, queer or non-binary person, is someone who uses clothing and makeup to imitate women and female gender roles for entertainment purposes and is often closely associated with LGBTQ culture. Drag performances are common across Iowa City at festivals and in bars like Studio 13 and Big Grove Brewery.
The event Saturday wasn't much different from ICPL's past drag storytime gatherings, besides the Halloween theme and the protesters in the back of the room.
"My family took my daughter the last time they had drag storytime, which was sometime this summer. She just had the best time, so we wanted to make sure she got to go again, knowing how much fun she had," Crabb said.
Crabb said her daughter was too young to notice the protesters. She observed her daughter was not as playful or having as much fun as at past events, but said this could have been because her daughter was in a different mood.
"It had a very subdued vibe the whole time," Crabb said. "Everyone was trying to put on a good face, and the performers and staff were so professional.
"Very few kids got up to dance and very few parents got up to dance."
She said the protesters stayed until everyone left and said library staff had to help escort some of the drag performers out for their safety. The performers included Kalliope Belle, Valencia Van De Camp and Princess Doma, and they read from the children's book, “If You’re A Drag Queen and You Know It.”
More:Will Chuck Grassley’s age hurt his reelection chances? Most likely voters say they have concerns
One political candidate postpones door-knocking event in order to protest at library
Onken and another Republican Iowa House candidate, Wayne Grell of North Liberty, were shown in videos of the protest that the Johnson County Republican Party posted on its YouTube page. Protesters can be heard in the background insulting the event and performers, while children and parents sat around the room enjoying the performance.
Onken is seen holding a sign saying, "Go Home Drag Queen Groomer." He had posted on social media earlier that day that he was postponing a campaign door-knocking effort in order to protest the event.
We were supposed to knock doors....change of plans. We are going to protest this junk in our community and knock doors after. We plan on meeting there at 10am, hopefully before any children show up. If you can make it, please come and take a stand. #groomers #onkenfor89 pic.twitter.com/AFR4kOedkj
— Jacob Onken (@jacob_onken) October 15, 2022
Crabb said the protester taking photos made her worried a picture of her daughter would end up on an extreme website. Video of the entire crowd was posted on the Iowa Standard website. She said she is now scared for her daughter's safety and wouldn't blame other parents at the event for feeling the same.
The conservative media outlet that wrote about the event called it creepy and implied sinister intent about the contents of the slideshow, which featured scenes and a music video from the popular Halloween movie "Hocus Pocus." The upcoming holiday is known for people dressing up in costumes, using phrases and language depicted in that slideshow, and Halloween is a holiday celebrated widely in the LGBTQ community.
Onken said he wasn't sure why parents or children would be uncomfortable with protesters because they weren't being disruptive.
Crabb has lived in Iowa City since July, when the family moved from the Twin Cities to be closer to her husband's family. She said she goes to the library with her daughter often for free play and for storytime events, including a Chinese bilingual offering.
Crabb said she thinks bringing her daughter to events like that increases her exposure to diversity in society, besides just being fun. She said the protesters were disappointing to her and other parents.
"You hear about these things on the internet, but to see it and to see people come and protest a drag storytime. ... What century are you living in? It's just mind-boggling to me," Crabb said.
In Iowa, there has been an increase in harassment directed at people and organizations involved with drag shows, including one flareup involving a performance at Ankeny High School. The Des Moines Register reported performers find a sense of community performing drag shows amid national and local attempts to ban books with LGBTQ content in school libraries, new laws and policies around the country that target transgender people and questions about whether federal LGBTQ rights could be abolished after the Supreme Court limited abortion rights.
More:Kim Reynolds and Deidre DeJear spar in their only Iowa governor debate. Here's what they said
Crabb said she finds it sad to see how people who are marginalized in the community, including people of color, gender non-conforming people and other LGBTQ people, are threatened for being who they are, and in this case, trying to do their jobs.
"It is scary to see this is happening in Iowa City. I love being here and I'm so grateful my family and I are here. But compared to things I enjoyed living in the Twin Cities, I'm realizing they are not necessarily the same here," Crabb said. "Iowa City is a target, it seems like, for this type of extreme activity."
ICPL policies allow protests, encourage and celebrate diversity in community
Elsworth Carman, the director of ICPL, said the library has held about a half-dozen drag storytime events since 2018. Some of the previous events were recorded and posted on the library's Youtube page at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEXlbi37g52Bo9SdHQUtCQA.
Carman said ICPL's mission is to connect people of all ages with information, engage them with a world of ideas and with each other, and enrich the community by supporting learning, promoting literacy, and encouraging creativity. He said drag queen storytimes are one of many programs ICPL offers, and that they are a great way to celebrate the diversity and inclusivity of our community.
Carman said the pretense of a group of adults unaccompanied by children at an event attended by predominantly children and their families was unusual and the general behavior of the protesters was mildly disruptive. But the event Saturday was held in full and as planned.
"Our response was to focus on program attendees, staff and our performers,. to make sure they felt welcome in our space," Carman said. "We increased the staffing level in the room to ensure all participants had access to a staff member if they had questions or concerns."
Carman said Saturday was the first time an ICPL drag storytime event was protested.
The ICPL programming policy describes how it responds to protests: "The library does not proscribe or cancel a program solely because an individual or group may find the content objectionable."
The policy does not outlaw protests, but outlines codes of conduct that include not being noisy or using abusive language.
The policy also prohibits campaigning. Onken and others were seen in videos posted online wearing T-shirts advertising political candidates, but they were not kicked out for doing so.
Carman said, while there are no future drag storytimes scheduled, ICPL will continue to offer them as part of its community programming.
"I find it highly unlikely that any of those performers would want to come back again. I'm sure the library staff are feeling very nervous, too," Crabb said.
More:Iowa Poll: 2nd & 3rd congressional districts are tight; likely voters favor Republicans in 1st & 4th
Johnson County Republicans step up anti-LGBTQ rhetoric ahead of elections
The behavior of Onken and Grell isn't unusual for Johnson County Republicans running for political office this November. Republicans have either outright expressed homophobic or transphobic views on the campaign trail or promoted anti-LGBTQ events hosted by the Johnson County Republican Party.
One candidate, Democrat Elle Wyant of Marengo, received a death threat from a Republican primary candidate because she is a transgender woman. Her Republican opponent in Iowa House District 91, Brad Sherman, did not send this threat, but does actively preach in his conservative church that LGBTQ rights are "satanic sacraments."
V Fixmer-Oraiz, running for Johnson County Supervisor, is transgender and queer. Fixmer-Oraiz told the Press-Citizen they have faced hate in the community because of their race and gender identity early on in the campaign.
The Johnson County Republicans planned to host conservative commentator Matt Walsh at their office on Melrose Avenue to show his film "What is a Woman?" which opposes providing gender-affirming care and the use of pronouns, restrooms, and locker rooms by trans people that align with their gender identities. Republican Jammie Bradshaw, one of Fixmer-Oraiz's opponents, tweeted about the event.
Onken is running against Democrat Elinor Levin of Iowa City, who identifies as a member of the queer community.
While Onken doesn't directly attack Levin and her sexual orientation, he does frequently tout his traditional family values and uses the term "groomer" on his website and in interviews with the Press-Citizen.
Levin also spoke to the Press-Citizen on Saturday at the candidate forum and expressed her disappointment at her opponent in the House District 89 race.
"What most people know about me is that I am an educator and I am a member of the queer community. (Onken) has made his campaign about attacking those two communities, as 'groomers' and implying harm to children that is not demonstrated," Levin said.
Levin said Onken is attacking communities that have spent their entire lives trying to make sure LGBTQ children know they can grow up happy about who they are. She said Onken's attempt to protest a "wholesome" event like drag storytime shows his goal isn't about helping Iowans, but about fear.
"It's about demonizing people that scare him and trying to drag them back into the closet," she said.
Onken said he thinks small children are vulnerable when put in a situation like a drag queen storytime. He claimed the children may be there against their will. He said he is also worried drag queens will be brought into local schools down the road.
He said he views drag queens as immoral and cited an occurrence in Ankeny as an example, claiming a performer "danced and "twerked" scandalously in front of small children.
"I didn't know what to expect here today when I decided to come here this morning. I was glad to see none of that was going on," he said.
More:Where Eileen Beran and Heather Hora stand on key issues in the Iowa House District 92 race
Onken uses the term "grooming" to refer to teaching children about LGBTQ issues.
"Grooming" is a term describing the action of pedophiles who have the intention of committing a sexual offense by preparing children for sexual actions. Conservatives have picked up the term to refer broadly to teaching children about LGBTQ issues.
Onken said he thinks grooming means when people teach children things that are contrary to his morals and the kids are unable to choose for themselves. He said this applies to "a lot of things" and doesn't have to be related to the LGBTQ community.
"I think this is something we need to stand against now and say that here is a time, place and manner for this type of stuff. You're confusing little kids with our tax dollars," he said.
George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (515) 350-6307, GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Drag queen storytime at Iowa City library protested by Republicans
