Protests and picture books: drag queen story time moved forward despite opposition
The alley behind Hendershot's Coffee in Athens has never been one for traffic. But on Wednesday night, it was bustling.
Protestors and counter-protestors flanked both sides of the street, yelling and waving signs. Three Athens-Clarke County police officers stood close by, keeping an eye out for angry scuffles. Motorists and cyclists alike rubbernecked, wondering what all the fuss was about.
But inside was quiet. As drag queen Karmella Macchiato opened her copy of Shel Silverstein's 'The Giving Tree,' a hush fell over the families sitting at the foot of her stage.
Athens Pride Week: Ready for Athens Pride Week? Get the details on daily events and the big outdoor festival.
On Wednesday, Athens Pride and Queer Collective (APQC) hosted a family-friendly concert and drag story hour as part of its annual Pride Week programming this week. When APQC announced the drag story hour, which would feature local drag queens reading children's books to attendees, the nonprofit met backlash from local parents and right-wing activists.
Event organizers geared up for the possibility of protestors joining the audience in Hendershot's. And although a few did show, the audience turned out to be as inclusive as they'd hoped for.
Drag queen story time targeted
Drag queen story time is a relatively new tradition with APQC. Since 2019, the organization has hosted several drag story hours without incident. Its board didn't expect anything different for Pride Week, its annual celebration commemorating LGBTQ+ pride in Athens.
But last week, president Cameron Harrelson noticed that the event was garnering a lot of attention on Facebook. On Sept. 9, former Oconee County school board candidate Julie Mauck posted about the upcoming event on Facebook, calling participants "the child-grooming and predator crowd."
LGBTQ Issues: Georgia’s Methodists face growing divide over tradition, LGBT inclusion
Others soon followed suit, tagging Harrelson, other APQC members and city officials.
Local parents and conservative activists expressed outrage over inviting drag queens to a family-friendly event, viewing the performers' presence as overtly sexual.
Harrelson says accusations like these aren't new: The "trans predator" has long been a stereotype lobbed at trans women and drag performers alike. He called it "ludicrous."
"It's a small group of people making a lot of noise," he said. "It's obviously untrue."
Preparing for the worst
APQC community outreach director Danielle Bonanno was appalled by the posts. But she wasn't surprised that this particular event came under attack.
"I think, you know, with the political climate of things and everything that started in Texas and then now with (Gov. Ron) DeSantis in Florida, the climate [for trans people] is changing across the country," she said.
Drag queen story times first began to crop up in the Bay Area in 2015 as a way for gay and trans families to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. They quickly became sites of political controversy and, in several cases, violence. Last June in Sparks, Nevada, a group of conservative activists stormed a local library while a drag story time was underway. After police escorted them off the premises, a demonstrator showed up with a rifle.
Story times have also become the subject of litigation. In Texas, lawmakers introduced a bill banning minors from attending drag performances. Politicians introduced a similar bill in Florida, where DeSantis also filed a complaint against a restaurant which hosted a drag brunch for children.
Though the hostility has mostly been directed at drag queens, who can be cisgender or transgender, the roots are distinctly gender essentialist. Drag story time critics tend to believe that young people are not ready to explore gender expression. Some, including the ones writing Facebook posts about APQC, have threatened to call child protective services on parents who support trans people and drag performers.
With privacy and safety now major concerns, Harrelson and the board decided to take action.
LGBTQ+ Visibility is everything
When a group of about six protestors arrived at Hendershot's on Wednesday, APQC volunteers dashed outside. Dozens of people with rainbow T-shirts and signs mobbed the alleyway outside of Hendershot's. Tie-dyed banners bearing positive messages went up, blocking younger attendees from viewing signs decrying "genital mutilation." Two musicians put together their saxophones, then spent the next two hours drowning out the protestors' voices with music.
When families began to trickle in, the crowd cheered them on. And when Athens native and local drag performer Karmella Macchiato showed up, the counter-protestors went wild.
Macchiato learned about the potential protests from Harrelson. He asked if she wanted to continue even with the threat of demonstrations. She said yes.
"Everyone's safety, of course, is the number one priority," she said. "But the reason we have Pride Week is so we can be visible. So I don't want to give in to these people who think they can just come out and shut something down because they don't agree with it."
It was that kind of visible community support that made Macchiato continue with drag story hour.
"I just really want [these kids] to see that ... those feelings of ... loneliness or not fitting in, they're not going to last forever," said Macchiato. "They can totally grow up and be whoever they want to be, and just be happy as who they are."
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Athens Pride hosted drag queen story time amid protests
