By Adam Frisk

For more than a half-decade, Drag Queen Storytime has been a part of Pride week festivities in the county, a family-friendly event that promotes the love of reading while celebrating diversity, inclusion and self-acceptance.

The Haliburton County Public Library (HCPL) hosted Drag Queen Storytime at both the Minden Hills branch and Dysart, featuring Auntie Plum in celebration of Pride in the Highlands, reading books to children of all ages.

“Storytime is more about giving them a positive sense of self and that can be drawn in a multitude of different ways,” the performer said in an Aug. 19 interview. “When it comes to picking stories, it’s more of a vibe of watching the crew of kids. Sometimes they are really really young, sometimes they are more school-aged and sometimes there are 80 and 90 year olds who come to the readings.”

With her bright pink wig, and wearing a matching pink roseclip, pink shawl and black floral dress, Auntie Plum made her entrance to the sound of more than 30 cheering kids and clapping adults as she sat in a big comfy chair and began to read.

“Kids are honest. They are pure, they see what they see,” the drag queen said. “And what they see, they call it. If they think you look like a frog, they say you look like a frog.”

“An adult on the other hand is going to mess around with a bunch of different other stuff and try and say everything other than what they are trying to say in a different way. So sometimes talking to adults through the kids is more valuable I think, because kids just see it for what it is, where adults will analyze everything to the nth degree,” she said.

Pride week events, like storytime with Auntie Plum, are well celebrated within the community but there are some residents who are opposed to such events and have been vocal in the past whether through social media or to protest in person.

“We’ve had death threats here, we’ve had all kinds of stuff here, we’ve had the police here,” the drag queen said. “It’s not so much about throwing hate speech at me, I’m an adult, it is creating a negative environment that you’re tossing out to kids.

“So, it’s the person throwing the hate speech that’s got the problem and they’re the ones that are actually creating the negative space, the negative environment for the kids,” she said.

A lone protester was standing outside the Minden library, near a Pride tent, holding a piece of cardboard with references to the Bible written on it. The man was arrested by the Ontario Provincial Police.

HCPL has been hosting the storytime event for seven years now and despite some of the opposition to the event, the booking readings have always had a strong turnout.

“It’s always very popular,” Hillary Montgomery, public services manager and deputy CEO, said. “We have families, we get some teens and lots of adult supporters and seniors coming out every year.”

Montgomery said in the past there’s been a couple of protesters holding signs out front and the library has had to preemptively turn off comments on social media posts about these types of events but readings have always gone off without a hitch.

“It’s always been pretty good here,” Montgomery said. “It is always just a great storytime and it’s no different from any of the other storytimes, we sing songs and do silly stuff while promoting literacy and it’s a great way to support Minden Pride.”

As for the lone protester, HCPL couldn’t comment on the matter as it’s part of a police investigation. OPP did not respond to a request for comment. It’s unclear whether the man was charged with a crime.