Families and supporters gathered at the Newmarket Public Library June 3 to do crafts and hear stories from two members of the Haus of Devereaux, a local family of drag queens.
"The library's values are to be inclusive of everyone and all gender expressions. This kind of event creates dialogue in the community and everyone’s doing it in a really respectful way and we’re able to highlight a different voice in the community,” said Tracy Munusami, library CEO.
The drag queens, E'Claire Devereaux and Athena Vegas, read stories and spoke about their own experiences and how they relate to the stories, many of which were LGBTQ+ affirming or about self-acceptance.
“It was really amazing to see a lot of families come,” Munusami said. “The room was full. It was great.”
Newmarket resident Darryl Bank was there with his daughter who's almost four and son who is one and a half.
"I feel like they need to understand why being inclusive is important," he said of his kids. "That’s an important value and that’s something that our family values."
It was the first time the family had been to a drag queen story time but he said they loved it, especially his daughter who loves any story time.
Another attendee, Jackson Ramsay, who identifies as non-binary, said it was amazing to be in this space.
“I feel accepted, which is great,” they said.
They think that everyone should feel proud of who they are and said that message is especially important for children to hear.
“We’re teaching them to be proud of who they are,” they said. “I think it’s great that they’re doing this.”
Susan Rough, who came with her daughter, Blair, said she has been asking for the library to do something like this for a while. She knows they have done them at other libraries in the area but is proud to finally see it here.
“Newmarket’s our home so we wanted it here. And these ladies come from here so it’s community,” she said.
Rough brought her daughter so she could learn about it and see acceptance demonstrated in person.
“As a mom you want to make sure your child is growing up to be a patience, wonderful, welcoming inclusive person,” she said.
However, the event also created a dialogue for the mom and daughter, as well as many others, due to three people who protested outside.
Blair, aged seven and three quarters, said she was confused by the protesters and their message.
"It technically means that you’re telling someone that it’s wrong to share appropriate stories that were made for children. It makes no sense because they’re made for children, so how is that not appropriate?” she said.
The protesters refused to speak with the media.
York Regional Police were outside to ensure that the situation remained peaceful, which it did, as a number of counter protesters stood outside to confront the protesters and engage in conversation with them.
On the advice of police and to not disrupt the program, any protesters were not permitted inside the building. There was also an additional security guard inside.
At one point conversations between the protesters and counter protesters grew louder and police advised the counter protesters to go inside and take a break. Shortly after that, the protesters left.
The queens from the Haus of Devereaux have encountered protesters before but E'Claire Devereaux said they aren't worried.
"I think a lot of the times the protest is just (people) not understanding. You don't know what's going on. It frightens you or scares you. You're going to protest," Devereaux said.
"It just takes these people a few minutes to find out that really, all we're doing is reading storybooks and cutting papers with scissors and having crafts."
That's exactly what they did today as kids made rainbow cloud crafts and enjoyed the story time. Many of the families said they hope the library does this again and if so, they'll come back.
