This is just sad. Tigard is a quiet little 'burb, with around 55,000 people. We have an excellent library system here and I'm in this one frequently. It's very comfortable. They have a nice public meeting room and no one is forced to go anywhere
near it.

"Tigard’s Drag Queen Storytime canceled due to threats; Poison Waters says ‘giving in is not an option’

The Tigard Public Library canceled a Sunday book-reading event featuring one of Portland’s best-known drag queens out of public safety concerns, Tigard police said.

The event was canceled due to “repeated threats of violence,” according to a statement posted on social media by the Tigard Police Department. The library will be closed Sunday out of “an abundance of caution,” police said.

Tigard police spokesperson Kelsey Anderson declined to say what the threats were or whether they knew who was responsible for them, citing an ongoing investigation. Plans for a sit-in protest of the reading, and a counter-protest in support of the event,
circulated online in recent days.

Anderson said there will be an “increased police presence” at Tigard’s community Pride celebration and parade, which is scheduled to take place from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Drag Queen Storytime, sponsored by the city of Tigard, was going to feature Poison Waters reading stories about acceptance and diversity in celebration of Pride Month.

Kevin Cook has performed drag under the stage name Poison Waters for decades and served as the grand marshal of the 2023 Starlight Parade.

Cook said the decision to cancel the reading is disheartening, but that he understands the need to prioritize public safety. He said threats have come in for many of his shows over the years, but few of them have had any problems.

“We still continue to do them because giving in is not an option; letting somebody’s negativity win is not an option,” Cook said. “But this one was a little different, just a little stronger, and I’ll just say, uglier.”

Several of the families planning to attend the reading have already reached out to find other upcoming family-friendly events featuring Poison Waters, Cook said.

“These events wouldn’t exist if there weren’t families wanting them,” Cook said.

Cook added:

“I’ve never done an event where a child didn’t come up and say, ‘That story reminded me of my brother,’ or ‘That story reminded me of my friend in school,’ or ‘That story speaks to me,’” Cook said. “That’s the purpose of these
events, to normalize, and I hate that word but, for lack of a better term, that there are all different walks of life out there.”

Gabriel Buehler, chair of the Washington County Republican Party, said the local GOP has planned a “celebratory flag wave” in front of the Tigard Public Library during the time the reading was scheduled to take place.

He said the party was not involved in organizing the planned sit-in protest. He said he believed the threats of violence came from individuals planning to participate in the counter-protest.

“I’ve seen all across the media waves today, ‘threats of violence,’ and it’s kind of insinuated that parents were threatening violence,” Buehler said. “That’s not the case, this was Antifa.”

The Tigard reading is the second family-friendly Pride event in the Portland area to be canceled because of threats. In May, officials at Atkinson Elementary School canceled a scheduled Pride Fest, an optional after-school event intended to celebrate the
LGBTQ+ community."

https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2023/06/tigards-drag-queen-storytime-canceled-due-to-threats-poison-waters-says-giving-in-is-not-an-option.html

The most Antifa people I've seen in one place was when they were the security for a trans pride event a few years ago. I don't think it was Antifa or our average parents who were making threats. It's more likely to have been some of the many
White Nationalists living a bit further out.

OTOH:

"Jumping Onto Portland's Epic Drag-A-Thon Is the Hottest Celebrity Trend Tickets are now on sale for this historic attempt and Trevor Project fundraiser."

"Drag-A-Thon already sounds pretty incredible. A collaboration between Wildfang and Darcelle XV Showplace, the 48-hour performance will attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for longest drag artist stage show."

https://www.portlandmercury.com/Theater/2023/06/14/46556822/jumping-onto-portlands-epic-drag-a-thon-is-the-hottest-celebrity-trend

"AN OFFICIAL GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ ATTEMPT
FOR THE LONGEST DRAG ARTIST STAGE SHOW
Tennessee has banned drag performances in a blatant attack on the queer & trans community—over 15 other states have drafted similar legislation and will attempt to pass it this summer.

Here is what you need to know:

1. DRAG IS BEING CRIMINALIZED ACROSS THE USA. WE WILL FIGHT THEIR HATE WITH JOY.

2. THIS EVENT WILL FEATURE OVER 48 HOURS OF CONTINUOUS DRAG PERFORMANCES.

3. DRAGATHON WILL RAISE OVER $250,000 FOR THE TREVOR PROJECT."

https://everout.com/portland/events/wildfang-x-darcelle-xv-drag-a-thon/e147828/

TB

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