A public library in McKinney, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas, will host a PrideMonth Family Storytime event on Saturday.
The straight mom of three young boys, who lives in Plano, wants to raise her children to be open minded and accepting, but has seen similar Pride events become targets for confrontation around the country, she had some reservations. With her firefighter husband at work, she wouldn't have to worry about the protesters showing up.
She felt like she had to.
Sometimes being an ally is just showing up. We decided that it was important for us to show up.
A huge group of counterprotesters had completely outnumbered the right-wing demonstrators when she arrived at the library.
The counterprotesters were on a mission to drown out the hate and make the attendees feel welcome.
MichaelPhillips, a historian and senior research fellow at Southern Methodist University, was one of the counter protesters. The families brought their children to the event to form a human shield and it was well organized to make sure they weren't harassed.
Families were able to pass through the corridor.
As a result of an increase in political and legislative attacks on the community, some on the far right attend Pride events in order to intimidate people or cause havoc.
Thirty-one white nationalists, including seven from Texas, were arrested in Idaho on June 12 for attempting to disrupt a Pride event. On the same day, Proud Boys interrupted a Drag Queen Story Hour at a Bay Area library, shouting anti-gay and anti-trans gender slurs. One of the men wore a T-shirt with a picture of an assault rifle and a message to kill a pedophile. Proud Boys protested at a drag queen story hour at a library in Nevada on Sunday. Counterprotesters fled inside the library when one of the men carrying a gun approached the building.
Texas has a lot of anti-gay feelings. State courts have temporarily blocked Gov. Greg Abbott's order to investigate families who provide gender-affirming care for their trans children as potential child abusers. Texas will have a version of Florida's "Don't Say Gay" which will restrict mentions of LGBTQ topics in schools. The Texas Republican Party inserted anti-gay language into their platform, calling homosexuality an "abnormal lifestyle choice" and opposing any special legal status for people who oppose the community.
One delegate who opposed the changes told the crowd that they were the Republican Party of Texas.
Salon reported last week that the Dallas area has been targeted by right-wing extremists in the past. A family drag show at a local gay bar, an adults-only drag brunches, and a city council hearing in support of Pride month have all been included. A couple in McKinney have called for the removal of almost 300 books they think do not promote a healthy lifestyle.
One day after another Pride event at a local clothing store was threatened by protesters, a library event took place in McKinney.
The Pride Month Storytime was in keeping with other library events that celebrate the community's diversity. Each year, the library displays age-appropriate literature in honor of Pride month. Residents can choose what activities they attend. Everyone is welcome.
Patrick Cloutier, a McKinney City council member at large, said he went to the library on Friday to read the books he was worried about at the event. He objected to the words "queer" and "drag queen" because he didn't want his granddaughter to see them.
He was pleasantly surprised to attend himself on Saturday. The event was held in a room that wasn't noisy for other patrons who didn't buy tickets or didn't want to listen to the readings. The woman who read the books was engaging and made the children happy.
People who were voluntarily there got what they wanted. I saw nothing wrong with the way she interacted with the children and the way she spoke.
Protesters were outside. There were a lot of people wearing religious clothing. Soon, suspected members of the Proud Boys and Three Percenters hate groups showed up, some armed and wearing body armor, others wearing face coverings from a rest stop.
Jesse Ringness, a documentary journalist who is running for state office as a Democrat, said that they were there to intimidate.
Sisters Josie and Mallie, who asked that their last names not be published out of fear they might be targeted, said the militia members began making crude and racist comments in an attempt to get the counterprotesters to join them.
They began to call us pedophiles. They called other women whores and were fat-shaming people. It was obvious that they wanted to cause some kind of violence. They wanted to make us angry so they could use it against us.
Mallie was thinking about how scared little kids would be seeing masked people. It would be frightening to walk out in the library.
Four counterprotesters who spoke with the news said they tried not to pay attention to the rhetoric because they were afraid of inflaming the situation. They wanted to counteract the hate with love.
The kids booed and yelled at each other when they walked out of Pride storytime. We cheered louder because we wanted to. People walked in front of the kids to prevent them from seeing them.
The fight was not about fighting the other side. It was not about getting a lot of attention. Ringness said it was all about supporting those who were there for a free event. It's really disappointing to see a public library holding an event for families with guns. What did the militiamen intend to do with their weapons? I don't know what to think.
The McKinney Police Department was nearby and keeping an eye on things to make sure the event was peaceful.
There were no arrests, but police issued one citation for assault by contact to someone who pushed another person, which appeared to be caught on camera.
The mother who took her sons to the event said she was uneasy by the right-wing protesters. During the storytime event, her oldest son wanted to go to the library, but she insisted that he stay close to his mom.
There's nothing you can do to prepare you for seeing armed hate groups next to your children.
The chants of hate were drowned out by cheers from the crowd. A person walked them to their car and used an umbrella to block out signs. She said she was grateful, but also sad that people had to protect the event.
Protesters held up signs about protecting kids, but it was members of the LGBTQ community and allies that protected my brown boys from these hate groups. On Saturday, they were the targets. They wouldn't flinch when they saw hatred staring at them.
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