Perth Voice Interactive

DRAG queen story time will go ahead at Maylands Library this month despite opponents escalating their opposition with in-person protests at Perth city library’s event in May.

After running for years without so much as a murmur against the events, drag queen Cougar Morrison was targeted by anonymous flyers in March by someone opposed to her reading kids books while in elaborate femme costume (Voice, April 1, 2023).

Drag story opponents escalated their protests by turning up in-person to oppose a May 17 drag queen story hour at City of Perth Library, which went ahead with police standing between protesters who held signs with slogans like “destroy pedo freaks”.

The next event at Maylands Library is due to go ahead on June 17 and Bayswater, and it’s attracted opposition from prominent anti-government activist/conspiracy theorist Dave Oneeglio, who contacted Bayswater council calling for their Maylands Library event to be cancelled.

Mr Oneeglio publicly posted his complaint, saying he didn’t have a problem with drag queens at adult venues, but arguing “by allowing transvestites to read books to children, you are actually opening a doorway for children to be exploited by predators”.

He asked: “Can you guarantee there are no long-term negative psychological effects of drag story time for children?”

Other online campaigners posted similar missives. 

Bayswater council’s response to Mr Oneeglio was polite but firm: “The City remains committed to its values of inclusion, tolerance and diversity and will proceed with this Drag Queen Storytime event as part of the range of events offered in response to community needs.”

Basywater’s response to Mr Oneeglio, who made a name for himself protesting government Covid mandates as he is a big supporter of individual liberties, stated: “Given that all families are different, parents and carers will have different views on what activities are suitable for their own children to participate in.

“The City respects the decisions of parents and carers to determine which activities are suitable for their children and therefore their decision to attend library events.

“This storytime event has been advertised in a way that is considered straight-forward and in no way misguides anyone as to the uniqueness of it. The content of the storytime is considered suitable for children. 

“The feedback from the City of Bayswater community regarding these events has been overwhelmingly positive.”

When the Voice checked the event listing this week the page was “unavailable”. However a call to Bayswater council confirmed it was still on – the page had just been taken down once all the free slots had been booked out, which was rarely the case before the recent wave of complaints.

by DAVID BELL