Bomb threat fails to shut down drag queen story hour event

An anti-LGBTQ+ bomb threat led to the evacuation and re-location of a drag queen story hour (DQSH) event in Princeton, New Jersey last Saturday around lunchtime. The event was held at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (BRCSJ), a community activist center and safe space for marginalized groups named after the gay civil rights leader.

The DQSH event began at 11 a.m., featured local drag performer Carrie Dragshaw, was presented by the BRCSJ’s anti-book-banning group Defenders of the Right to Read, and was attended by over 50 people, including children and their parents.

Related:

Protesters at a drag queen story hour were met with a “rainbow wall” protecting attendees

“It’s not going anywhere,” a library spokesperson said of the event.

However, around 10:49 a.m. the Princeton Police Department received an anonymous email that contained remarks against the LGBTQ+ community and people affiliated with the BRCSJ. The email said that “numerous explosive devices” had been placed inside and around the BRCSJ, Patch.com reported.

Stay connected to your community

Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter.

Daily

Weekly

Good News

Police immediately went to the BRCSJ, evacuated the DQSH attendees and center workers, and searched the area with a dog (though not a bomb-sniffing dog, as the canine wasn’t available). No explosive devices were found. People were allowed back into the center by 12:40 p.m., and the DQSH event continued at an unnamed nearby building.

The DQSH organizers cleverly acted as if the relocation of the event was part of the fun, with the drag performer leading a conga line dance away from the center, Out In Jersey reported. Police are now investigating the identity of the anonymous emailer.

“A bomb threat did not stop our @DragStoryHour as our LGBTQIA families, friends & allies sashayed in fabulous field-trip fashion to a nearby stoop,” the BRCSJ wrote in a Sunday morning tweet. “Our queer community will always gather together stronger & with even more LOVE in the face of hate & ignorance.”

Robt Martin Seda-Schreiber, Founder and Chief Activist of the BRCSJ, said, “The safe space we offer to our LGBTQIA youth, intersectional families, and all our beautifully diverse folx is not only a physical entity but indeed something we carry within our hearts and our souls. These despicable actions threatened, this dishonest bigoted rhetoric espoused, this abhorrent hate will only ever be answered by a stronger, braver, and more empowering message of love.”

The DQSH invite webpage said, “Drag Queen Story Hour helps children learn about gender diversity, promotes self-acceptance, & builds empathy through stories & songs. DQSH also teaches children to accept & celebrate gender diversity in themselves & others, & helps to curb bullying of LGBTQIA children.”

Anti-LGBTQ+ right-wing conservatives, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups have falsely claimed that drag queens are “adult performers” who seek to “sexualize” kids. Several states, like Tennessee and Florida, have passed bans seeking to prevent minors from seeing drag performances, but courts have largely blocked these bans as violations of free speech.

Nonetheless, the vilification of drag performers have led far-right extremists to label drag queens, drag venue owners, and drag show attendees as “pedophiles” and to target them all with doxxing and violence.