Posted on 03/23/2024 11:15:47 AM PDT by lightman
A Drag Queen Story Hour event at Lancaster Public Library that sparked both protests and an outpouring of support has been canceled after a suspicious package was discovered nearby.
"We regret to inform you that due to unforeseen circumstances, the Lancaster Pride event: Drag Story Hour with Miss Amie in collaboration with the Lancaster Public Library has been canceled," the LGBTQ+ group stated on social media. "The safety and well-being of our community are of utmost importance to us. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding."
Lancaster Pride Director Tiffany Shirley said around 9 a.m. Lancaster City Police conducted a security check of Lancaster Public Library. Around 9:45, police found “a suspicious package and evacuated everybody immediately.”
Lissa Holland, the library's executive director, said the package was delivered to the building on Friday. This morning, around 9 a.m., a Lancaster city police K-9 dog alerted to the package during a security sweep. Police then evacuated the building.
Shirley and about 11 public library staff evacuated to Binns Park across the street, she said. They eventually found shelter at a nearby place of business.
“We just gathered everybody together. Made sure everybody was safe. Made sure Miss Amie was safe.”
Miss Amie is the performance name for Christopher Paolini, the drag artist scheduled to perform Saturday.
Shirley said the library made the decision to cancel the event to make sure nobody was at risk.
“It just breaks my heart that we were trying to make a safe, fun event for our children, and because people disagree and don’t think we should exist, had to ruin it for everybody,” Shirley said. Live updates: Police evacuating areas of Lancaster city following bomb threats Local News Live updates: Police evacuating areas of Lancaster city following bomb threats
Holland said she felt “really sad, very disappointed and angry, that leaders of this county turned this into saving the children from the library and we are having to cancel this event because of safety threats.”
Though the library did not make the decision to cancel Saturday's event, Holland said it was the right call during a brief interview under the overhang outside the Starbucks at 101 N. Queen St. to escape the rain.
“Absolutely. It's safety first, for everybody involved, For our storyteller, for the staff — and most important for the children that were going to be here and the families. I am saddened to the core” that the event had to be canceled, Holland said.
Joshua Schwartz, president of Lancaster Public Library’s board of trustees, standing at Holland's side, said he had mixed emotions.
“I'm proud to be part of an organization that strives to be open to all parts of the community and especially marginalized parts of the community, and serve everyone in Lancaster,” Schwartz said. “I'm incredibly sad that we're unable to fulfill our mission today because of people who decided to politicize this storytime event, and obviously some people got into such an emotional frenzy that we can no longer hold something that is safe and welcoming and inclusive.”
Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest.
FReepmail me to be added to the list.
Man Package ?
When the intellect is severed from grace, it hardens and proudly asserts itself. With all one’s effort, the mind must pass through the mystery of Baptism, not the precise moment of child’s or adult’s Baptism, but everything that Baptism presupposes: preliminary and lasting renunciation of an old life and the desire for a new life, the sacrament of the death and the life of Jesus Christ....
Thus, the proud mind that counts itself as the criterion of things and of the world must be baptized. This mind must discover silence by entering into the depths of the heart and gradually must be taught by the Holy Spirit who leads with a maternal sweetness into the intimate place where God and Christ are. When the intellect purifies itself by this descent and attentiveness to God, life springs up from the transfigured heart, and the mind finds new words.
—Protopresbyter Boris Bobrinskoy, The Compassion of the Father
Ooo, oooo, ooo!!! Mr. Kotter!! Can I make the first joke?!?!
He could always go read at a nursing home. Oh, wait, they only target kids.
Seriously, why the hell would anyone support a drag queen story hour. It’s just plain stupid and normalizes insanity.
I read the headline and noticed it wasn’t the Babylon Bee.
I was surprised.
Moo Shell was known to bring along a suspicious package. That what they talking about?
“Drag Queen”, “..suspicious package was discovered..” Too easy.
Drag Queen: Nobody ever complained about my package up to today.😉
Dollars to donuts they made the threat to themselves.
suspicious package
“That was a guy. A guy dressed up like a Sheila!”
Let me guess.
“Miss Amie” is really Bubba, who is 6’4”, 280 lbs and is scouting the kiddies for potential victims.
That’s about the size of it.
The library staff and everyone associated with these atrocities should be sent to a reeducation camp.
They come right out and say it -- these Drag Queen Story Hours aren't intended as light entertainment for kids, these folks are "ON A MISSION" to normalize mental illness and sexual debauchery.
They're saying the quiet part out loud. Listen, because they're getting bolder by the day.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania...deep red Trump country.
Every one of those child sniffing cross-dressing pervs is a suspicious package.
“Drag Queen” and “Suspicious package” in the same sentence???
ROFL!!!!
Yeah ... they ALL have “suspicious packages”.
What the hell is going on there. I used to groundhog and deer hunt on Amish farms, Kirkwood and Quarryville. Good Greif!
RE: suspicious package
If they didn’t invite drag queens the package wouldn’t have had to be suspicious.👀📦
Suspicious Minds
sung by Elvis Presley (his 18th and last #1 single)📻
We’re caught in a trap
I can’t walk out
Because I love you too much, baby
Why can’t you see
What you’re doing to me
When you don’t believe a word I say?
We can’t go on together
With suspicious minds (with suspicious minds)
And we can’t build our dreams
On suspicious minds
So, if an old friend I know
Stops by to say hello
Would I still see suspicion in your eyes?
Here we go again
Asking where I’ve been
You can’t see the tears are real, I’m crying
(Yes, I’m crying)
Oh, let our love survive
I’ll dry the tears from your eyes
Let’s don’t let a good thing die
When, honey, you know I have never lied to you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.