CELEBRATE YOUR FABULOUS PUBLIC LIBRARY! *
*(So says the sign I will carry in support of children’s programming at the Peterborough Public Library.)
Here in the City of Peterborough and Peterborough County, we celebrate a public library reminding us again and again of the importance of acceptance.
We are once again approaching a Saturday morning children's program,
'Drag Story Time', where a local teenager, (a university student studying Performance Art), will be entertaining families with young kids by reading stories and singing songs with the aid of a sweet puppet character. The story time programs, (with themes of happiness, emotions, friendship, diversity, inclusion and respect), encourage literacy, promote acceptance and celebrate differences.
The storyteller is our own Betty Baker, kind and gentle, with a perpetual smile -
a little bit Mary Poppins, a little bit Mrs. Doubtfire, a little bit Julia Child.
Betty Baker's story time events have been hugely successful, happy,
important community events.
That is, in spite of what happens outside of the library.
Enter a small group of naysayers.
This group has been gathering outside of the library before and during Drag Story Time, armed with signs, (some with bible quotes, some heavy with misinformation), to stand against the insanity, (as I heard it called), of “letting kids be part of a drag show”, and attempting to normalize what they perceive to be the “lie of a radical gender ideology”. The protester’s messages perpetuate dangerous myths and disinformation with regard to drag, trans, 2SLGBTQ+ members of our community and communities across Canada.
Perhaps it is too much to wish for change to occur in the mindset of the protesters, whose anti-2SLGBTQ+ words and actions make it unsafe for
drag performers, for trans youth, for gay couples in our community.
But we can outnumber them, showing the library to be a safe, accepting place for all, in the heart of a loving community.
I will be present at the Peterborough Public Library in support of Betty Baker, in support of the programming, in support of those arriving to attend Drag Story Time, in support of the kids who need to hear that it’s okay to be different, and in support of those compelled to turn out in celebration of our diverse community,
and our FABULOUS library.
- Anne Renouf
DRAG STORY TIME
with Betty Baker
Peterborough Public Library
Saturday May 6 2023 10:15 a.m.
