Lee — The town’s public library held its first-ever Drag Story Hour on Tuesday, March 5.
Before the event took place, Berkshire Pride Executive Director Cass Santos-China said that the library received calls stating that there would be people protesting against the event. “The library got some hate calls that all said they did not want Drag Story Hour in their town,” Santos-China told The Berkshire Edge. “These people didn’t identify themselves, and they all threatened to protest the event today.”
Due to the threats of a protest, Berkshire Pride, along with Multicultural BRIDGE, organized a counterprotest in support of the event, with more than 30 Berkshire County residents attending.
However, no one who threatened to protest the library’s Drag Story Hour showed up.
As a result, the counterprotest organized by Berkshire Pride and Multicultural BRIDGE turned into a show of support for Drag Story Hour and Casi Kristant (a.k.a. Drag Queen Poppy DaBubbly), who led the March 5 library event.
Back in February, Kristant launched a branch of Drag Story Hour in Berkshire County. The branch’s inaugural event took place on March 2 at the Berkshire Pride office in Pittsfield. After the first event, Lee Library Director Damon Vorce said that a library patron requested that a Drag Story Hour be held at the library. “We’ve never done one before, and it seemed like a fun thing to do,” Vorce said. “To me, I just did what the community member wanted. As far as programming goes, if somebody from the community wants a program, and if they fill out the proper paperwork, we’re going to facilitate the program.”
As for the planned protest against Drag Story Hour, Vorce said that “it’s everyone’s right to protest.” “Everyone has a feeling of what they think is right and what is wrong, and my job isn’t to try to change that,” Vorce said. “My job has to do with the community’s assets. If somebody wants to do a program, I’m going to facilitate it.”
Outside of the library on March 5, supporters of Drag Story Hour included Misty Labshere (a.k.a. Drag Queen Miz Rebel). “We are here today just to spread love and positivity,” Labshere said. “We just want children to know that they have a safe place with parents and that they are all loved and accepted for who they are. This is because a lot of us didn’t have that growing up. For many of us in our communities, being queer wasn’t something that we could openly talk about when we were growing up. Our hope is to create these kinds of places where kids can go and feel accepted without having to hide or be scared.”
“Drag Story Hour is important because it shows how diverse this community is, and it also shows how it can provide a service to the community,” JV Hampton-VanSant said. Hampton-VanSant Hampton-VanSant is a reader for drag story hour under the performer name Jayde Violet and is an organizer with Multicultural Bridge and Berkshire Pride. “It’s also really important for the people growing up who, like me, didn’t see a drag queen until I was in college. It’s important to have that kind of visibility and to have something we’re able to see.”
In a email after this article was published, Hamptom-VanSant wrote “I came up with the idea of the counterprotest after Trump supporters protested outside the BRIDGE offices in Lee on Monday. These are the same people who put the calls into the Lee Library and said they’d be protesting the next day. Myself and Gwendolyn VanSant called BRIDGE volunteers, including Kristen Van Ginhoven, put out a call across several different forms of social media, and that’s how we got such a large turn out.”
Representatives from other organizations were also present to show their support, including WAM Theatre Company co-founder Ginhoven. “I think that we underestimate how much courage it takes for people to come out and be part of the Drag Story Hour,” Ginhoven said. “When the call for support went out, I answered the call in order to support, uplift, and affirm with positive actions. It’s important to have every different kind of storytelling across the country and across the world. It’s important that families look at different identities in different ways. It’s good to create inquiring minds because it helps to encourage children and families to be curious about what is out there when it comes to role models. And who doesn’t like to see somebody in a fabulous outfit with terrific hair and extraordinary makeup? It’s wonderful to give children opportunities for imagination.”
Rev. Marisa Brown Ludwig of the Lee First Congregational Church attended the event with several members of the church. “We are representing a church that is open and affirming,” Rev. Ludwig said. “It is crucial, especially in our polarized time, that we are clear that we want the doors to be open wider, and not closed. We stand with people of all kinds who are all among us. They are our family, our friends, our colleagues, and our neighbors. We stand with all of them.”
As for the people who vowed to protest against Drag Story Hour, church member Barbara Mahoney said “I feel sorry for them because I feel sorry for people who have hate. They are missing out on wonderful relationships with other human beings.”
Article updated at 7:30 a.m. on March 7 with additional details.
