A battle of the “walls” encompassed the second drag queen story hour in Pittsford on Sunday, which drew a similar crowd of supporters and a wider pool of protesters than its predecessor a week ago.
The event, a children’s book reading at the Pittsford Community Center by drag performers Vivian Darling, Psy Kodick, and Valentino Rose organized by Pittsford CommUNITY, was surrounded by supporters, who built what they called a “wall of love.” Meanwhile, a couple dozen protesters attempted to counter the event by building what they called a “wall of shame.”
Some protesters sat and prayed, others wielded signs accusing the organizers and drag performers of attempting to sexualize and “groom” kids. Another part of their tactic saw two women dress as the characters Elsa and Anna from the Disney film “Frozen” and attempt to engage with kids.
In a Facebook post shared by protest organizer Bill Gilchrist, who also is an elected member of the Henrietta Fire District board of commissioners, Gilchrist said the “Frozen” “characters would be talking to the children and not the parents.”
Pamela Dayton was an organizer of the wall of love, who was also a part of the event last week. She said she has a master's divinity degree from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and believes the protesters are misguided in their faith-based messaging.
“Here’s the thing about what Jesus said — Jesus said we need to love God, love ourselves, and love other people,” Dayton said. “...For these people to show up and act like Jesus told them to get in people’s faces and tell them they’re going to hell is a 100 percent contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Protesters trying to intercept kids entering the building pic.twitter.com/KyVTtCSbUM
— Gino Fanelli (@GinoFanelli) April 23, 2023
Most of the protesters employed a variety of religious messaging mixed with right-wing talking points. For example, the word “grooming” was used by many protesters.
Grooming is a term used to describe the psychological conditioning a pedophile uses to abuse children. But it has recently been co-opted as a catch-all term by anti-LGBTQ activists to refer to drag story hours and literature that discusses sexuality with children and teens.
Donna Kay said she came to the event to protest “grooming,” saying that the performers were “exposing children to sexuality.” She said the drag performers were not doing anything risqué, but added that she believed that was only so they would be more accepted by the wider community.
“How else are they going to be accepted? They can’t come into town screaming and yelling,” Kay said.
Other protesters took a more religious approach. Don Weatherston came to the event with his wife, Karen, to protest children being “confused.” Weatherston believes all LGBTQ people haven’t found God.
Weatherston said the high suicide rate among LGBTQ youth is proof that his interpretation of the Bible is correct. The Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) reports that LGBTQ youth are twice as likely to attempt suicide. However, the CDC notes a major risk factor is hostility towards their sexual identity and its effect on their mental health.
“We can always come up with excuses,” Weatherston said. “Figures don’t lie, but liars sure can figure.”
The turnout for the event was relatively small. It drew just a handful of children compared to the couple hundred protesters and counter-protesters.
Kelly Lalonde and her husband Francis Zablocki, both of Pittsford, brought their 9-year-old daughter, Lily. Lalonde said the event was an opportunity to support the LGBTQ community and teach a lesson to their daughter.
“We believe everybody should love who they should love,” Lalonde said. “We live in this community, and we live in it for a reason. There’s a time to ignore ignorant people, and there’s a time to show up.”
Zablocki echoed the sentiment, and said he believed people protesting the event were confused.
“I think there’s just a lot of misunderstanding and misguided angst,” Zablocki said. “There’s a lot of people here on the other side who probably think they’re doing the right thing, but don’t actually understand that they’re standing on the wrong side of things.”
