Protesters, Supporters Turn Out for Lansdale Drag Queen Story Hour

Bruce Schwartz•

Wildly varying views of free speech, public spaces, inclusion, tolerance, sexuality—and children’s stories—intersected vehemently Saturday morning in the streets and parking lots outside the Lansdale Public Library, as drag queen "Miss Annie” hosted a well-behaved reading hour inside for local kids.

Protests and counter-protests, from playful to prayerful to downright profane, drew a crowd estimated by police at 200, including story-hour attendees. Local media also turned out to cover an event that sparked considerable controversy, including TV camera crews from Philadelphia and Allentown. Lansdale Police Chief Michael Trail said 16 officers were on duty at the story hour of a drag queen who performs under the stage name "Annie Christ." Another 10 from the Montgomery County Major Incident Response Team, or MIRT, were on standby.

Fortunately, no major incidents ensued. But folks from the borough and well beyond, from Christian groups to LGBTQ supporters, came to make their opinions known loud and clear outside the venue.

Loudest – the smallest contingent, though wielding a bullhorn – were a handful of out-of-town protesters shouting profanities and threatening hellfire for transgressors from "homos” to Lansdale Mayor Garry Herbert. "We’re here because we love the children, and we don’t want them to get molested by the drag queen,” said their leader, who identified himself as "Pastor Aden” from Philadelphia and is a regular presence at these types of protests.

("It comes with the territory; it’s part of the job,” sighed Mayor Herbert, who draw particular ire for his vocal support on social media of the event. "People aren’t always going to agree with everything you say, and they may condemn you for it. My support for protecting the liberty of someone—a taxpayer, a resident—who wants to use our public space has drawn some ire. But the reality is, if we didn’t protect that person’s ability to utilize their tax dollars at work, we would be headed down a much worse slope where we could deny anyone for any reason.”)

Local groups who organized the initial prayer rally took pains to distance themselves. "There are some so-called Christians—I don’t know if they’re Christians, but they’re claiming to represent the kingdom of God and they have a megaphone,” said co-organizer Steve Piotrowski. "When we came here, they started shouting us down. They’re condemning them and using foul language, and we’re not here to do that. I want to make that clear. We’re against homosexuality, because that’s what the Bible says. But we’re here to let them know we love them, and we just want to pray for them.”

Said his co-organizer Ken Souder of North Wales, "We’re not affiliated with the other side, the radical guys there. We’re here to show our disapproval of what’s going on at the library, and to bring a better solution. What’s happening here today is perversion, it’s not what God would be pleased with. … My heart breaks there are so many people that are so confused, we have our work cut out for us.”

Added Souder, "If they want to do this in a private building of their own, that’s one thing, but to do it in a public library, using taxpayer dollars, that’s another story all together. We just cannot condone that.”

Souder said his group brought about 40 protesters to pray. But they were obviously outnumbered by counter-protesters who sang and chanted support for the event and for the LGBTQ community. They hoisted placards sporting artwork of unicorns and rainbows, with messages of love and celebrating differences and quotes from Dr. Seuss books. Multicolored balloons floated about, and dinosaurs danced through the crowd.

Edie Weinstein, from Dublin, came to offer those in the crowd "free hugs” (with full consent, of course). Her sign said "Hug Mobsters, Armed with Love.” She said her group offers embraces at various events, "because my take is Valentine’s Day is all year round, and it’s not just about romantic love. It’s about universal love.”

She said she’s also an educator and therapist and "an ally of the LGBTQ community,” and she noted that "there’s a high incidence of suicide among LGBTQ youths.”

Thus, the hugs. "This is about love, it’s about inclusivity, and I’m so glad that our community is so inclusive. Look at all these people.” And how many hugs did she supply? "About 50, but I’d like to give out a lot more,” she said with a laugh. "It’s freezing out here.”

(Keith Heffintrayer contributed to this story.)