Controversy

An Ohio school says an internal dispute over security prompted a last-minute cancellation of a weekend children’s storytelling event…featuring performers in drag…amid a planned protest by a far-right group. The Red Oak Community School’s “Holi-Drag Storytime” event was to have been held at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, where the school is based. The Ohio Chapter of the Proud Boys last month announced plans to attend and protest the event. School manager Cheryl Ryan says the cancellation was prompted by an internal disagreement “about how this community could be best protected.” In an often-emotional speech from the decorated stage where the event was to have been held, she spoke of repeated efforts to secure police protection. About 50 to 70 members of the Proud Boys and other groups had gathered on the sidewalk on roads leading to the church, shouting, chanting and holding signs.