By Sunayana Prahbu
RED BANK – Nothing about the guarded exterior of Red Bank Public Library Monday evening, June 27, was funny, but inside, infectious laughter echoed in a room full of families. Children and parents listened to stories of a serious goose and a nonconformist spoon read by drag queen Harmonica Sunbeam. “Kindness is giving a bug a hug,” she read from the “Kindness Book” by Todd Parr.
This was Sunbeam’s second appearance at the library’s Drag Queen Story Hour program, after a visit Wednesday morning, June 22. That day three women, who did not want to give their names or speak on the record, stood on the library’s walkway with signs protesting the program. On Monday evening, two protesters – who also refused to identify themselves – stood outside the library chanting Bible verses. “We are here to fight wicked darkness,” one protester commented.
Four supporters of the drag queen event were positioned a few steps away, alongside at least two police officers who were guarding the library entrance.
Nancy Murphy, a Red Bank resident, said she heard about the protesters hurling slurs like “pedophile” at Sunbeam after the previous week’s Drag Queen Story Hour. “I live right here, and I had heard about the protesters last week,” Murphy said. As a nurse practitioner she said she was “very concerned” about children being subjected to negative words and hateful speech.
Inside the library, children waved rainbow flags in honor of Pride Month and admired Sunbeam’s long purple eyelashes.
Parent Erin Gualtieri brought her 6-year-old daughter to the program. “There’s so much love in this room,” she said, “but I think it’s important for her to know that there may be people outside who are upset about this, but we are just going to walk past them and we’re not going to care. Storytime with someone who cares about kids is far more important than anything we can encounter outside that’s hateful. And I want her to know that.”
The Drag Queen Story Hour is a nonprofit organization started in 2016 by Michelle Tea and Radar Productions in San Francisco with a mission to create diverse, accessible and culturally-inclusive family programming at bookstores and libraries or anywhere kids can express their authentic selves.
Drag Queen Story Hour was first hosted on the East Coast at the Brooklyn Public Library. Sunbeam noted that there is a strict vetting process all Drag Queen Story Hour readers undergo before interacting with children. “We have had background checks,” she said, “…only then we are allowed to read to the kids.”
There have been protesters at every one of her events but Sunbeam said, “I’ve learned not to engage with them because their minds are set on what they think this is all about.”
“There is no agenda,” she said “Everyone loves to be read to. Even as adults, we like stories to be told to us. That’s just what it is. Libraries have story hours all the time. This is just a special guest presenting it in their own special way. Nothing else, nothing less.”
Eleni Glykis, the library director, said that the Drag Story Hour is Red Bank Public Library’s effort to acknowledge that all people are important. Its mission to celebrate diversity continues regardless of a handful protestors or any hateful messages the library might receive. Glykis said they have an answer for social media trolls, too. “Thank you for your comments and we’ll record them for future reference!”
The article originally appeared in the June 30 – July 6, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
