COLUMBUS – A Northeast Side school says an internal dispute over security prompted a last-minute cancellation of a weekend children’s storytelling event featuring performers in drag facing a planned protest by a far-right group.
The “Holi-Drag Storytime” event at Red Oak Community School was slated for Saturday morning at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus.
The Ohio Chapter of the Proud Boys said last month it would protest the event.
School director Cheryl Ryan said the cancellation stemmed from an internal disagreement “about how this community could be best protected.”
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther says the city became aware of Proud Boys’ plan to protest the event on Nov. 18 and the Division of Police, event organizers and a private security firm owned, operated and staffed by LGBTQ+ community members began to prepare a plan, which apparently fell through the day before the event.
“Yesterday, on Friday, December 2, the organizer of the event indicated that they no longer wished to partner with the private security firm and police tasked with protecting the event. As a result of this abrupt change, the event performers indicated that they no longer felt safe to participate in the event. Shortly thereafter, the event organizer announced the cancellation of the event,” Ginther said in a statement issued Saturday.
About 50 to 70 members of the Proud Boys and other groups came to protest on roads leading to the church.