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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Drag Queen Story Time organizers in Houston call it quits amid 'death threats and national scorn' |
| 2019-03-23 |
| [WASHINGTONTIMES] Organizers of a Houston Public Library program where drag queens could read stories to children are calling it quits after a drag queen who participated in the program turned out to be a registered child sex offender, sparking widespread outrage. Trent Lira and Devin Will, the founders of Drag Queen Story Time, said they and their "kings and queens" who participated in the program have been the target of harassment and death threats since they first launched at the Freed-Montrose Library in September 2017. But that harassment escalated to dangerous levels, they said, after it was revealed that Albert Alfonso Garza, a 32-year-old drag queen who participated in the program under the name Tatiana Mala-Niña, was previously convicted for the aggravated sexual assault of an 8-year-old child. The Houston Public Library issued an apology last week saying it failed to run a background check on Garza, as its policy requires. The Drag Queen Story Time organizers called it a "systematic mistake." "It's the system. Not us. We just make policy...for the system" "It was devastating," the organizers said in a statement provided to Houstonia magazine. "We had insisted and insisted that what we were doing was safe for children, and yet here was a performer who had been charged with sexual assault of a minor. "It is frustrating that the past conviction of a single performer now undermines the efforts of three dozen other drag kings and queens who have delighted parents and children alike with songs, costumes, and most importantly, stories," the group said. "We have tried so hard to take the high road, to not stoop to mud-slinging. We have patiently listened to the people that declared we were sexualizing and molesting children. We have asked counter-protesters to be peaceful or not show up at all. We have been calm. We have been collected. But we are angry. And we are tired. And we are sick of well-intentioned but misinformed news stories that have only polarized people more." The group said they ultimately decided that it was time to "step away" from Drag Queen Story Time and "not continue with the program in March or for the foreseeable future." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 I saw a program on Wednesday called The Best Defense - a line from that show went something like, "When we give our kids over to another adult, we have the expectation that they will watch over your child as if he or she were their own." The topic was active school shooter. The context was proper preparation. I will contend that here, actual violence is being brought upon the child by the very administrators we charge with caring for our children. "But swks, drag queens and kings (wtf that is) are people too." Yes. Adult people, doing adult things. I ask, how many Babysitter Needed ask specifically for a drag queen, and to babysit in costume? Being kind, let's say 1%. But here, that 1% is forcing all kids to be babysat by an off topic and rare lifestyle put into a position of authority as surrogate parent. Its as bad as teaching these younglings about fellatio. Seriously, babysitter comes over and you go see a movie, come back and the original babysitter is gone and in its place is some pennywise drag queen with your children sitting on the couch, being lectured. I have a tomahawk for that. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2019-03-23 15:49 |
| #4 I'm just glad that there are still people willing to kill to protect their children. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-03-23 09:59 |
| #3 Gotta agree Herb. Also it is the push towards normalizing and legalizing pedophilia. Most of these sick fucks just need to be used as decoration for our lamp posts. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2019-03-23 09:28 |
| #2 Notice how it's everyone else's fault for noticing they hired sex offenders. Not their fault for exposing children to perverts. |
| Posted by: Herb McCoy 2019-03-23 03:10 |
| #1 Oh - so all those 'earlier concerns' were somehow unjustified in light of this most unsurprising of revelations that one of you c*cksuckers preyed on a f*cking 8 year old kid? It was entirely predictable. Hell is not a nice enough place for you, Mr. Diddler. |
| Posted by: Raj 2019-03-23 00:40 |