Ohio: Columbus school cancels drag story time, citing security dispute

The Red Oak Community School's “Holi-Drag Storytime” event was to have been held Saturday morning at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus. WBNS10 TV 12/03/2022
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus school says an internal dispute over security prompted a last-minute cancellation of a weekend children's storytelling event featuring performers in drag amid a planned protest by a far-right group.

The Red Oak Community School's “Holi-Drag Storytime” event was to have been held Saturday morning at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, where the school is based. The Ohio Chapter of the Proud Boys last month announced plans to attend and protest the event.

School manager Cheryl Ryan said Saturday morning that the cancellation was prompted by an internal disagreement “about how this community could be best protected.” In an often-emotional speech from the decorated stage where the event was to have been held, she spoke of repeated efforts to secure police protection along with the discomfort with law enforcement felt by a “community defense team” that had volunteered to help provide security.

“In the end our performers felt unsafe without a police presence while our safety team felt unsafe with a police presence," Ryan said. “So it turns out our biggest problem wasn’t the Proud Boys after all.”.....