‘Frightening’ Protests of Drag Storytime Event Cause Lockdown of SA Library

Protests over a drag queen storytime event in Salisbury, South Australia earlier this week caused the library hosting the children’s event into a lock down.

At the event, Adelaide drag queen Fifi LaDouche read books and sang children’s songs and nursery rhymes.

But while the wholesome event went on indoors, 7 News reported that ‘several threats’ caused the library and chambers to go into lock down, with no one allowed in or out for hours.

The protests, which required a heavy police attendance, showed people holding signs calling drag queens and LGBTQI+ people groomers and similar terms.

Video footage of the event shows a group of men wearing masks holding a sign that partially read ‘PEDO FREAKS’ and chanting ‘Pedophiles, off our streets’.

This comes after other drag storytime events throughout Australia were heavily protested, cancelled or moved online in recent months, and drag queens involved in the events have been targeted by protesters and far-right groups.

Families bravely attend drag storytime event despite “frightening” protests

Speaking with ABC Adelaide, Salisbury mayor Gillian Aldridge said, “The brave families who actually came through with people face-on abusing them was frightening,” and parents who attended with their children were “amazingly strong, wonderful people”.

“One woman came with seven foster children and braved through this herd of people [who were] right in their face screaming at them,” said Aldridge.

Aldridge said despite the protests, the event “went beautifully”, and that the books went down really well with the young audience, who had a “lovely, safe time”.

Salisbury Council did not respond to Star Observer’s request for comment by time of publishing.

Salisbury Council flooded with complaints

In the lead up to the event earlier in the week, the northern suburbs council was reportedly flooded with complaints about the event.

Salisbury Council told The Advertiser they received 114 complaints leading up the event, from ‘concerned parents’.

But the Salisbury Council determined the event would go ahead but one hour earlier than initially planned, saying the “one-off Rainbow Storytime event” was to “promote diversity”.

Fifi LaDouche read two books: ‘Chicken Divas’ about two chickens secretly singing at Club Sparkles, and the second called ‘Just the Way We Are’, which speaks on about all the different types of families, including those with same-sex and gender-diverse parents.

And anonymous source told local news they thought Fifi LaDouche was not an appropriate host for the event, regardless of the types of books they were reading.

“Fifi LaDouche is openly an adult performer whose drag shows are described by LGBTIQA+ organisations as containing innuendo and vibrating toys,” the source said to The Advertiser.

“Even if this performance has no explicit sexual adult content, it is without question that children are likely to perform web searches and social media searches of the host Fifi La Douche.”

Fifi LaDouche is a beloved queen on the SA drag scene, and regularly hosts drag bingo with fellow SA queen Princess Laya, as well as drag nights across Adelaide and the northern suburbs.

 

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A post shared by Princess Laya (@missprincesslaya)

Salisbury mayor Gillain Aldridge is adamant the event was child-friendly, and told 7NEWS that it reflected the wide diversity of people in Salisbury’s council area.

“All sorts of people live in Salisbury, and we care about them all and we include them all,” Aldridge said. “We’re an inclusive community.”