Joe.My.God. LGBT News
San Francisco’s CBS News affiliate reports:
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a group of men who disrupted a drag queen storytelling event at the San Lorenzo Library Saturday with homophobic slurs.
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said the incident occurred Saturday afternoon at around 1:30 p.m. at the San Lorenzo Library located on Paseo Grande.
Authorities said a group of men entered the library its “Drag Queen Story Time” event and made “homophobic and transphobic remarks against a member of the LGTBQ+ community who was hosting the event.”
From the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office:
When deputies arrived they learned a LGBTQ community member was hosting a reading event at the library called, “Drag Queen Story Hour.” Present at the event were children, parents and other community members.
A group of men entered the library and disrupted the reading event. The men were described as members of the Proud Boys organization, known to be a right wing hate group with anti-LGBTQ affiliations.
The men began to shout homophobic and transphobic slurs at the event organizer. The men were described as extremely aggressive with a threatening violent demeanor causing people to fear for their safety.
Deputies responded to the scene and were able to de-escalate the situation. An active hate crime investigation is underway as is an investigation into the annoying and harassing of children.
ACSO will dedicate all resources to ensure the safety of members of our LGBTQ community. We will make sure any future events at the library are safe against hate speech and threats of violence.
As we celebrate Pride Month, we will be swift in our response to any incidents where there are threats to harm members of this community.
Image above via Google Street View. The Proud Boys may have been alerted to the event thanks to a tweet from the anti-LGBTQ account, LibsOfTikTok.
Yesterday:
Proud Boys stormed Drag Queen Story Hour at San Lorenzo Public Library, wearing AK-47 shirts & calling the drag queen “pedophile” & “it.”
A right-wing militia was arrested for planning to attack Pride in Idaho.
Direct results of political attacks on LGBTQ people.
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) June 12, 2022
NEW: San Francisco drag queen Panda Dulce says their Drag Queen Story Hour for kids at San Lorenzo Library today was stormed by people shouting homophobic slurs and hate speech.
They allegedly shouted “tranny” and “pedophile.”
I called @ACSOSheriffs who confirmed the incident: pic.twitter.com/IwAS31vGWQ
— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) June 12, 2022
Panda Dulce, Kyle Chu, wrote on Instagram: “today a group of 8-10 proud boys stormed my drag queen story hour at san lorenzo public library.”
The sheriff’s office confirmed they wore black and yellow, colors associated w/Proud Boys.
There were no arrests, sheriffs said. pic.twitter.com/LMO6t4ajRY
— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) June 12, 2022
I’m transcribing Dulce’s post:
“They were wearing AK 47 shirts. they recorded me on their phones, yelled, called me a ‘tranny’, a ‘pedophile’ and an ‘it’, and totally freaked out all of the kids. they got right in our faces. they jeered. they attempted to escalate to violence.”— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) June 12, 2022
“I left the room with the security guard. we hid in the back office while the other librarians called the sheriff.
when the sheriff arrived with backup, they escorted the protesters out. the protestors formed a line, tried to block the library exits and waited.”
— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) June 12, 2022
Hate-crime investigation underway after 5 men who are members of the far-right Proud Boys interrupted a “Drag Queen Story Hour” at @aclib San Lorenzo Library w/kids, parents & community members & shouted homophobic & transphobic comments at event organizer, per @ACSOSheriffs pic.twitter.com/6x5Uwaxc1B
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) June 12, 2022
Press Release: Hate Crime Incident at San Lorenzo Library by right wing hate group. https://t.co/SXp74X6jKT
— Alameda County Sheriff (@ACSOSheriffs) June 12, 2022
