By Corinne Murdock |

A crowd of Tucson parents protested against a drag queen story hour hosted at Bookmans, a local bookstore chain, this month.

Bookmans hosted the event in coordination with Drag Story Hour Arizona. Event organizers withheld the exact location until the day before the event, and only released it to registered attendees. 

The line wrapped all the way around the corner!

It’s clear Tucson parents are NOT on board with sexualizing children. https://t.co/OtZ6vGBA8o

— Rachel Hope (@RachelHope_GOP) July 17, 2023

It’s happening ✨ pic.twitter.com/MoDQuEg08C

— Bookmans Midtown (@bookmansmidtown) July 11, 2023

The Bridge Tucson, a local multi-location church, organized the protest. Church members behind the protest noted that the drag story hour event organizers were saving preferential seating for children so that protesting adults couldn’t take all the seating.

Bookmans attempted to host another drag queen story hour back in March, but the organizers canceled due to protests.

The protest of Bookmans "Drag Story Hour" is not needed at this time because they have canceled! Great job BCC and all that took a stand. We will continue to monitor and reschedule the protest if needed. pic.twitter.com/2bc6JPoHuX

— The Bridge Church (@TheBridgeTucson) March 21, 2023

“Bookmans is committed to allowing men dressed in women’s clothing to dance and sing and read books to children while exploring sexual themes with children and providing a ‘queer’ influence in their life,” stated the Bridge Tucson. “Bookmans is committed to grooming our children and it is pure evil. It has always been society’s job to protect children, and this is one of those moments in time to take a stand. We made it very clear that if Bookmans re-scheduled their Drag Queen Story Hour, we would reschedule our protest. So it’s on!

It has been confirmed that the protest was hosted by @TheBridgeTucson

Great job! https://t.co/zl8cNOhyMa

— Luke Mosiman (@Luke_Mosiman) July 17, 2023

Drag Story Hour Arizona formed in 2019. In addition to Bookmans, the group collaborates with AzTYPO, Virtual Arizona Pride, Free Mom Hugs Arizona, and Phoenix Pride.

Ahead of the March story hour cancellation, Bridge Tucson members claimed retaliation. Their members reportedly emailed the bookstore to protest the event and claimed that their email addresses were then signed up for porn site email listings.

BCC: We have had a few reports of people that recently sent an email to Bookmans and then had that email address signed up for porn site emails. This seems to be only some recent emails but we wanted to warn everyone. Again, well done BCC for standing against sinful behavior. pic.twitter.com/vHAzgKBKVc

— The Bridge Church (@TheBridgeTucson) March 20, 2023

In response to the protest, State Sen. Justine Wadsack (R-LD17), commended the local parents for withstanding the temperatures that afternoon, which reached around 110 degrees. Wadsack also included an allusion to the controversial child sex trafficking awareness movie, “Sound of Freedom.”

Mama Bears & Papa Bears around the country have had ENOUGH with Drag Queen Story Hour. So much so, they’ll protest the venues in 110 degree AZ Heat!

God’s Children Are Not For Sale! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/a0ynn0VIDb

— AZ Senator Justine Wadsack (@Wadsack4Arizona) July 17, 2023

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.