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
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
“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
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
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!
Arizona Legislative Republicans and Democrats are continuing their legendary clashes over a bill that would severely punish unlawful exposures to minors.
SB 1698, sponsored by Senator Justine Wadsack, “establishes unlawful exposure to an adult oriented performance or business as a class 4 felony offense punishable as a dangerous crime against children and requires a person convicted of the offense to register as a sex offender,” according to the overview provided by the Arizona House of Representatives.
In a video explanation of the genesis behind this bill’s introduction, Senator Wadsack said she “felt a conviction to create this bill after coming across events like the drag queen story hours, which involve sexual adult performance in sexually explicit attire, reading books to children – often elementary school age.”
"I'm passionately working on a bill which establishes the offense of unlawful exposure to an adult oriented performance or business and classifies a violation as a class 4 felony."
In February, SB 1698 passed both the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee, before it was approved by the entire Senate chamber in early March by a 16-14 party-line vote. Before the vote on the Senate floor, Senator Wadsack inserted a five-part floor amendment, which (among other things) removed the definition of “drag show” from the original bill.
After the final Senate action on the bill, it was transmitted to the Arizona House of Representatives, where it was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.
#SB1698: My bill just passed in the Senate! It makes it unlawful for adult oriented performances, such as Drag Queen Story Hour as it specifically targets children.
— AZ Senator Justine Wadsack (@Wadsack4Arizona) March 2, 2023
This week, the House Judiciary Committee considered the bill, and, after vigorous debate, passed it by a vote of 5-3. All Republicans voted to affirm the legislation, and Democrats voted to oppose. House Democrats labeled SB 1698 as one of the chamber’s “hateful bills,” linking the policy proposed by Wadsack to a hypothetical outcome that would see the end of “school-play versions of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.”
Hateful Bills Alert 🚨 Sen. Justine Wadsack’s SB1698 criminalizing drag shows in House Judiciary 9am. And SB1026 Sen. John Kavanagh’s bill to ban state funding for drag performances (House Government 10 am) so fare thee well school-play version of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” pic.twitter.com/BY9hOpfK2Z
House Judiciary Committee Republicans made their voices heard during this hearing, pushing back against individuals speaking out against the bill and their colleagues from across the aisle. Representative Alexander Kolodin said, “All this bill does is prohibit parents from taking their kids to a sex show or a drag show. It’s common sense. How could you be against that?”
Representative Cory McGarr stated that “there is a growing trend that for some reason we are pushing hyper-sexual material on children. But to oppose this bill on the merit, to me, seems completely insane.”
Countering the naysayers of the bill, the bill sponsor, Senator Wadsack, previously clarified what her legislation does or does not do: “This bill does not target entertainers who are performing for adults. This bill also deals with individuals providing adult entertainment to minors, which is absolutely what crosses the line.”
Representatives from the National Association of Social Workers, Children’s Action alliance, American Civil Liberties Union of AZ, AZ Attorneys for Criminal Justice, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona registered in opposition to the bill during the legislative process.
SB 1698 is expected to make its way to the House floor for a vote in the near future.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
