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A group of protesters from the University of Queensland’s Liberal Nationals Club were filmed storming a children’s library event this weekend. Footage shows the group interrupting the final moments of the Drag Queen Story Time event while chanting “drag queens are not for kids”. Police were called and the group eventually backed off, leaving many children distressed and in tears.
So the UQ Young Liberals decided to interrupt story time at a public library where a drag queen is reading to children only to be abused by homophobic slurs @LiberalAus. What are they doing to support the community? pic.twitter.com/dB7zXeVL7i
— CORY (@corydunco) January 12, 2020
The event was organised by Rainbow Families Queensland and Brisbane City Council. It was the fourth Drag Queen Story Time event to be held in Brisbane, aimed at raising awareness about equality and encouraging tolerance and acceptance. The Queens hosting the event, Diamond and Queeny, are both experienced entertainers with Blue Card registration.
In a postto Facebook after the protest, the UQ Liberal National Club said the “use of rate-payer money on hiring Drag Queens” was “deeply inappropriate”. The group had previously spoken out against the event, calling it “moral filth” that was “designed to indoctrinate and sexualise young children”.
Members of the LNP have gone to effort to distance themselves from the UQ Liberal National Club. In a post to Facebook, Trevor Evans, the first openly-gay MP elected in Queensland, called the protesters “ratbags” who “are not members of the LNP” although they claim to be. Evans said that the LNP had commenced legal action against the group in 2019 in order to stop them claiming affiliation with the LNP.
Celebrities and the public have rallied in support of the event and against the UQ Liberal National Club. Jess Origliasso from Brisbane pop duo The Veronicas posted a video to her Instagram sharing the story of her friend who attended the event. In her post she said the protest demonstrated the “bigotry, division and trauma” that young children are left to face in today’s society. Comedian Joel Creasey called it “disgusting”, while the hashtag #IStandWithQueens is trending across Australia.
