Volunteers with rainbow umbrellas lined the streets of Downtown Reno to escort families with children into the library for the first of three Drag Queen Story Time events this summer. The volunteers were with Our Center, an organization whose goal is to maintain a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. The Washoe County Library System is hosting these three events in conjunction with Pride Month, and the Reno Pride Parade in July.
“They reached out last year for support to see if they needed anything and we had a conversation with some of the staff at Our Center about partnerships for this,” said Jeff Scott, director of the Washoe County Library System. “That’s a natural alliance for us. We’re working on our diversity, equity, inclusion, programming, strategic planning, that was a big thing that came out of it and so we’re looking to strengthen those partnerships.”
Last June during a Drag Queen Story Time event in Sparks, armed protesters associated with the extremist group Proud Boys intimidated patrons. In response to that incident, the Washoe County Library System decided to partner with Our Center to help de-escalate and assist with keeping the peace at this year’s event. Volunteers from Our Center received training in de-escalation techniques from Black Rock Rangers before the event to ensure a peaceful and calm experience for the families and children.
“It’s important to have inclusivity in general, and to recognize people as people and to accept everybody, no matter how they identify, how they choose to present,” said Kelly Tanguay, programming and volunteer coordinator for Our Center. “And I think it’s really cool to see families come out and maybe have some exposure to some things and some excitement and some joy and some inclusivity that maybe they wouldn’t have regularly.”
While there were a number of protesters at Thursday’s event, they were far outnumbered by the “Rainbow Brigade” volunteers, allies from Our Center who held rainbow colored umbrellas to shield attendees from the protesters as they entered the library. The event was calm and peaceful with no major conflicts between the two groups.
The read aloud quickly reached capacity as 75 parents and children filed into the library for Drag Queen Story Time with Ginger Devine, who said this event is critical to building excitement about reading. “One, children’s literacy is important, and it’s important in Nevada first and foremost. This is an opportunity that folks have to inspire children to read, to have children captivated by stories and stir their imaginations and instill within them a want to get their library card and to check out books for summer reading,” Devine said.
But it’s much more than that. Devine said these events are crucial to help more people see themselves in the community.
“We know that representation matters. We know that representation is a life-saving thing, and that’s not just some fantastical notion pulled out of the ether. That is real. That is a fact. When individuals, especially from marginalized communities that have been historically silenced or ostracized…see members of their community at these events doing these things just like everybody else, that has a visceral impact on their sense of self, on their well being.”
Parents in attendance seemed to echo this sentiment, including Reno resident Candice Powell.
“It was great. It was a wonderful opportunity for our kids to be read to. And I mean, what a beautiful collection of people, right? Even the volunteers out front, the umbrella people, I mean, just what a lovely, lovely event. Who wouldn’t want to bring their kids to such a nice thing?”
Editor’s Note: At the Sierra Nevada Ally, we believe in the humanity of all people, including those who identify as LGBTQ+ and we will not engage in any debate that argues otherwise.
