Subj : Drag queen reading group cancels nationwide tour amid protests
To   : All
From : News
Date : Fri Apr 26 2024 12:47 pm

Rainbow Storytime has cancelled its nationwide New Zealand tour scheduled for
later this year following repeated protests at its events.

Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki has been organising protests about the
group in recent months.

Events in Rotorua and Hastings were called off due to "public safety
concerns" last month with death threats sent to performers.

Scheduled shows would have seen two drag performers reading books about
inclusivity and acceptance to children.

In a post to its Facebook page, Rainbow Storytime said: "We are very upset
and disappointed to announce the cancellation of the Rainbow Storytime NZ
nationwide tour which we were looking at doing later on this year."

"We know there will be MANY sad kids and parents out there but with the
current climate and Erika Flash now staying on in London, we are going to
press pause on everything we are doing."

Currently, nearly $26,000 has been raised through a Givelittle page to take a
claim of defamation against Destiny Church to court.

The cancellation announcement added that the group's energy was needed to
take the "hateful, icky" group to court to try and create "widespread change".

"This is the ultimate action in anti-bullying and the ultimate message of
what our Storytimes are about so we want to do our best."

Tamaki described the cancellation on his social media as a "victory."

Rotorua Lakes Council said last month that Rainbow Storytime was a
family-friendly event aimed at younger children, including book-reading,
singing and dancing.

"The event is focused on acceptance, anti-bullying, inclusion, being kind and
having confidence in yourself. It has been a popular event in many other
libraries and registrations for the event at Rotorua Library were full.

It acknowledged people's right to peaceful protest but said "multiple
attempts" to contact protest representatives asking them to respect the
space, library users and those who had chosen to attend the event went
unanswered.

"Without these assurances, [the] council needed to review its security plan
for Rainbow Storytime.

"We considered the hostile dialogue on social media and the rapid spread of
misinformation about the performers and the purpose of the event as key
factors."

Hastings library staff and council service received a "large number" of
messages prior to last month's cancelled event in Hastings that accused it of
being a platform for the sexual grooming of young people.

The council attributed the cancellation to "disinformation being spread about
an upcoming library programme".

"There is no sexual content in these programmes, they are age appropriate,
and designed to be entertaining and fun. It is the parents' choice whether
their children attend, and the programme takes place at an upstairs section
of the library away from the general public library area."
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