Anti-LGBTQ+ Groups, fans of Libs of Tiktok celebrate cancelation of Drag Story Hour in Lancaster

Bomb threats caused the cancelation of a peaceful reading of books to kids by local Drag Queen.

[Video to be added soon]

We can call this another victory for anti-trans hate and Chaya Raichik’s Libs of Tiktok account. 

Lancaster Pride had organized a Drag Queen Story Hour at the Lancaster Public Library on Saturday, March 23rd with a local Berks County performer named Miss Amie Vanite.

The event quickly was noticed by Raichik’s Libs of Tiktok account calling out the performer for once clearly jokingly calling kids “semen demon offspring.” Adding “Is this the kind of person you want to be interacting with your toddlers?” 

Lancaster GOP County Commissioner Josh Parsons jumped on the bandwagon the next day and called out the event as inappropriate, grabbing a bunch of local TV news. 

Events that gained the attention of Chaya Raichik and her Libs of TikTok account have regularly received bomb threats according to NBC News.

“NBC News identified 33 instances, starting in November 2020, when people or institutions singled out by Libs of TikTok later reported bomb threats or other violent intimidation. The threats, which on average came several days after tweets from Libs of TikTok, targeted schools, libraries, hospitals, small businesses and elected officials in 16 states, Washington, D.C., and the Canadian province of Ontario. Twenty-one of the 33 threats were bomb threats, which most commonly targeted schools and were made via email.”

The story hour in Lancaster was no different. Before the event was scheduled to start a police dog was alerted to a suspicious package. Miss Amie aka Christopher Paolini and others were evacuated by Lancaster Police. Paolini told Lancaster Online, “...I'm keeping a strong face. Because that's what I do in the face of this kind of insanity, stupidity. Like, this is not how we thought today was going to go at all whatsoever.”

The President of Lancaster Pride, Tiffany Shirley stated the obvious in my chat with her, saying, “It's heartbreaking that individuals wanted to cause harm to children when they were, saying that we were causing harm to children - when they're the obviously the credible threat and not us.” 

Unfortunately, from there the threats continued.  According to LancasterOnline there were e-mails specifically mentioning “the home addresses of the library’s executive director, the president of Lancaster Pride, which was supposed to host the event, and an LNP | LancasterOnline reporter.” LancasterOnline’s reporting stated that “the bombs were to go off at 1:30 p.m.” About an hour and 45mins later the order was lifted. 

The threat read “Bring the fire department, we placed pipe bombs as well as fuel bombs will likely cause a fire spreading to other buildings. evacuate so no innocents die. You are (expletive) degenerates, pedophiles, child abusers or (expletive) cowards who rather let our children get preyed upon than be called a bigot. (expletive) you degenerates, we will kill you all and purify our land.”

Hundreds of people were cleared from surrounding buildings, (including this reporter from a pizza shop) and many from the local anime convention from the local hotels creating an unusual scene on the streets of Lancaster. 

Right-wing, Anti-LGBTQ+ group Moms for Liberty’s local chapter was permitted to hold a prayer rally outside of the library but they had canceled it due to the weather (it rained). According to multiple sources, around 100 people held an impromptu one on the night before. Social media accounts for Moms for Liberty have been silent since the cancellation but their private Facebook group had been preparing for large protests. 

Moms for Liberty nationally has been pushing for anti-LGBTQ legislation and aggressively trying to get schools to ban books that have positive LGBTQ messaging according to GLADD. The right wing “moms” group has had regular connections with the violent J6th gang, The Proud Boys as The Advocate has reported. 

While the Mom’s weren’t around at all, there was a random street preacher (he would only give his youtube page) who was screaming at women who just happened to be walking by. I asked him several times what he thought of the event being canceled due to bomb threats. He refused to answer and claimed that I was trying “trickery” when I asked if he wanted these events canceled by any means necessary, “I thank God for the third, fourth or fifth time that the event was canceled because it was an abomination. What they're doing, they're trying to ruin the minds of children in this country.” He then went back to screaming at cosplayers and random people for showing their thighs or daring to be gay.

The Youtube Street preacher wasn’t the only group that came to Lancaster to scream about the canceled drag show. There was also The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP), a right-wing anti-communist Catholic group that was founded in the 70’s. Their banners proclaimed “PRIDE!? For Sins that cry out to Heaven for Vengence! Where is your SHAME?” and “America Needs Fatima” TFP had ties with Paul Weyrich of The Heritage Foundation and the Reagan administration. The Southern Poverty Law Center called them “virulently anti-LGBT.” 

They were certainly against drag shows. Norman Fulkerson, a “25-year veteran member” of the TFP, and an editor of their publication, The Crusade Magazine told me that his problem with the event was, “Men dressed in drag, men dressed in drag. It used to be something they would do in the privacy of their home because they were ashamed of it, because it's something that was looked upon with abhorrence, as it should be. But now it's paraded into society and it's and it's done with children. And what it does it normal eyes is this idea of men dressing as women, which they should be ashamed of it normalize it.”

He also was disappointed that the more people didn’t protect the event that was canceled hours ago, “The people are the people should stand up. The lack of reaction is what, you know, the only thing necessary for evil to advance, as the saying goes, as for the good to do nothing. And I think the good people there are a lot of people were not alone. I mean, we have a handful of people out here on a day.”

Across the street, also protesting with TFP was a man that gave his name as Eric. He was holding a “One Nation Under God” flag that had a Christian Cross across the American flag, I asked him if he thought we should be a Christian nation. “Yeah. It's founded as it. And we should be. We ought to get back to it.” 

Libs of Tiktok posted Saturday night about the cancelation, tweeting “BREAKING: The Lancaster Drag Queen Story Hour for “babies and toddlers” by a drag queen who referred to kids as “s*men demon offspring” was canceled.” The reason for the cancelation was oddly left out of her tweet. The comments below were sadly predictable. 

At the time of writing no word on if the Drag time Story hour event had been rescheduled.