Canadian Librarian Responds To Threats Against Drag Story Hour by Adding Second Event
This Pride month has been a difficult one for U.S. libraries: white supremacists have stormed Drag Queen Story Hours, libraries have been defaced with the word “groomer” for carrying LGBTQ children’s books, Pride displays have been censored and stolen, and the systematic challenging of LGBTQ books by rightwing groups like “Moms for Liberty” continues.
While Canada has a different political climate, American culture has an enormous amount of influence there, especially with the rise of social media. Canada has had its own anti-vaccine movement, for instance, called the “Freedom Convoy” — the name alone shows how much American cultural influence is involved there.
So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Canada is starting to see the same anti-LGBTQ movements that have grown in the U.S. over the past year or so. Drag Queen Story Hours in particular are seeing a lot of vitriol aimed at them, with libraries from Montreal to Victoria — both usually very queer-inclusive cities — getting hate mail, threats, and protests against all-ages drag shows and story hours. Many of these online attacks were orchestrated by Freedom Convoy groups.
While some events — like Victoria’s all-ages drag show, which has been running for years without incident — were cancelled, others had a crowd of supporters show up to protect the performers and children from protesters. Often, when the day came, no protesters showed up at all.
One librarian, the CEO of the Orillia Public Library in Ontario, responded to threats by doubling down. Bessie Sullivan said, “They pissed me off. So actually, what we did, as this ratcheted up, I added a second story time.”
Read more about this story at CBC.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
Also In This Story Stream
- For the New Yorkers: 2024 Gotham Book Prize Finalists Announced
- The 2024 Women’s Prize Shortlists Are Here
- PEN America Cancels Awards Following Writers’ Boycott Over Palestine
- The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists
- The LA Times Book Prize Winners for 2024
- Listen to Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, Then Read These Books
- Winners of 2024 Republic of Consciousness Prize — an Award for Small Presses — Announced
- Trailer for ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE Adaptation Dropped
- These Two Authors Made Time’s List of the 100 Most Influential People of 2024
- The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists