A handful of protesters gathered outside a Hamilton, Ont., public library to oppose a drag queen storytime Thursday morning, but were met with an even bigger group of counter-protesters.
Billed as a “family-friendly” affair for the Hamilton Public Library (HPL), supporters of the event ventured out in numbers to Mohawk Road and West Fifth Avenue.
Kofi Donaldson says it was important to show up at Terryberry Library to support those attending the event because he could have benefitted from seeing more LGBTQ2 representation when he was a child.
“So kids being able to see someone that maybe like them, will give them more confidence,” Donaldson said.
“I think now … this event, also for maybe kids that won’t grow up to be queer, it would just be like an exposure for them to understand the people around them.”
It’s the second drag time storytime has been held at a city library this month, with the other at their Binbrook location.
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Shelley McKay, the library’s manager of communications, told Global News kids and parents have really been enjoying them as part of an initaitive to support “intellectual freedom.”
She characterized Thursday morning’s gathering out front of the facility as “peaceful” although a bit “surprising.”
“Fortunate that we’re able to do this, that it’s our right to be able to do this,” she said.
“Hopefully everyone … has good conversation, respectful discourse and I hope that the little ones are having a good time.”
Hamilton police were on scene to keep the groups separate.
Spokesperson Const. Krista-Lee Ernst said no arrests or charges needed to be made.
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