It’s called Drag Queen Story Hour. Supporters said it’s a way to teach literacy and tolerance to children by having a drag queen read stories to them. But members of a conservative group said it’s a way to indoctrinate children into accepting LGBTQ culture.
In front of the Chula Vista library on F street Thursday afternoon, the two sides clashed.
"These are not role models. They should not be reading to our children," said Arthur Schaper with the group Mass Resistance.
Schaper said Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) is really an effort to indoctrinate children to accept what he called a “homosexual lifestyle.”
"They want to normalize this culture to children. Drag Queen Story Hour, the website itself makes it very clear. The goal is to basically indoctrinate children to accept gender fluidity," Schaper said.
But Schaper and his fellow protesters were met with counter-protesters, like Chula Vista resident Coyote Moon.
"Resist these hateful people that came into our town, my county, my home where I raised my kids, took them to the library and all because drag queens want to read stories to children and to me that’s ridiculous," Moon said.
As the protest progressed, the two sides started shouting at each other. That's when Chula Vista police were called. They said they were there simply to monitor the situation and keep things from getting out of hand.
Pastor Dennis Hodges of Yeshua Ha Mashiach church said he showed up to protest because he believes that the idea of DQSH is not normal.
"I’m against anything that’s not normal and being a drag queen is not normal," Hodges said.
Counter-protester Kelly Hutton said DQSH is simply about promoting literacy and inclusion, and she rejected the idea that the drag queen storyteller would do anything inappropriate.
"Of course they won’t talk about anything adult. Of course they won’t. It’s a children’s literacy program for every child," Hutton said.
Members of Mass Resistance have protested other DQSH's in other parts of the country.
They claim to have shut some down.
Drag Queen Story Hour is set to take place at the Otay Ranch Library on September 10th at 4 pm.
