Despite protest, drag queen storytime event a source of pride, Headingley librarian says
CBC
Winnipeg drag queen Miss Assuma Gender had never seen protesters show up outside one of her events prior to Saturday, but she's glad a family-friendly storytime event at a Manitoba library went well despite heated protests outside.
The event, Read by Queens, was held at the Headingley Municipal Library just west of Winnipeg in partnership with Sunshine House, a Winnipeg-based community drop-in centre, and featured three drag queens reading children's books.
CBC News obtained a video taken outside the library as the event was underway, showing two groups of about 10 people each. The video shows one group, holding Pride and transgender Pride flags, on one side of the street as the other group across from them chants "shame."
"I'm hoping that that incident is not the takeaway here," Miss Assuma Gender told CBC News. "We really just wanted to, at the very least, show the kids that coming to an event like this should be safe."
She was alerted of a possible protest prior to the event, but said the performers went ahead with it to show kids that they can "dress however they want, and that doesn't diminish who they are as people."
Protesters did not impact the event itself, which took place in the library's basement reading room. Drag queen storytime events have recently grown in popularity, but they've been blown out of proportion by people who don't understand what drag is, Gender said.
"I think the misunderstanding that a lot of people have is, they get hung up on drag — full stop. That's what they view as being inappropriate, which equates being a queer person in the vicinity of children … as inappropriate," she said.
RCMP said they responded to multiple reports of a disturbance on Alboro Street, near the library, where officers found two groups of people yelling at each other.
Two women — one from each group — had pushed each other, RCMP said in a Monday statement. No injuries were reported and no charges or arrests were pursued after speaking with both women.
Police remained at the protest to ensure safety until both groups left.
About 75 people attended the event, including parents, children and youth, said head librarian Alison Au, who said she's proud Headingley Library was able to hold its first drag queen storytime event.
Au, who has worked at the library for about 15 years, wanted to hold the event to make the library's stance clear following recent calls for the removal of LGBTQ, sexual education resources and other books in Manitoba school libraries.
"It just seemed like the time was right to do something like this. Headingley has never really had any sort of a Pride event or anything like that," she told CBC News on Monday.
The library started getting emails and phone calls from people with complaints after the event was announced, Au said, and she contacted RCMP after learning of plans for the protest.
When Stephanie Gamble watched her mother model the first dress she made, smiling wide and walking an imaginary runway, she knew that was what she wanted to keep doing in her life.
'Tis the season for cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. And for people in B.C.'s Interior, that can increasingly mean seeing their home communities on display.
Every year, snowy owls spread their wings and migrate down to the Prairies, where they enjoy access to plenty of rodent prey in vast open spaces.
This month has been a busy stretch at the Upper Room Food Bank in Charlottetown.
N.W.T. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland says she has received the final report from an independent investigation into education bodies in the Dehcho region.
P.E.I.’s auditor general says he’s concerned and disappointed that the projected deficit has doubled what government initially estimated it would be — and he's urging the province to balance its budget.
A man found not criminally responsible for stabbing five people to death at a Calgary house party is getting more freedoms but not an absolute discharge.
A man has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a Toronto mother outside a supervised consumption site in Leslieville.
Russian olive trees — sometimes known as silver berry or oleaster — are small, ornamental plants with silvery leaves and black bark, and small yellow flowers and silver fruit that look like miniature olives. They’re pretty, but they’re a problem.
The Yukon Legislative Assembly’s fall sitting ended on Thursday after the territorial government introduced and passed a supplementary budget.
A Canadian military counter-intelligence operative, who stands accused of passing sensitive information to Ukraine, was involved in an investigation into allegations that a leading Canadian defence journalist was a longtime Russian asset.
An Alberta panel aimed at finding ways the province can strengthen its autonomy has offered up seven recommendations, including options for referendum topics.
People won't be able to travel along B.C.'s Highway 3 without significant delays and detours over the holiday season, says the Ministry of Transportation.