A group of protesters who showed up dressed in black outside of Susan Chamberlain’s Sarnia book store in late November didn’t stop its monthly Drag Queen Story Time from going ahead that day.
And it won’t stop one coming upJan. 28, when Chamberlain says she plans to invite the public to a 10 am “party” outside The Book Keeper, just a half-hour before the story time with drag performer Amanda Villa.
People will be invited to dress warm “and maybe sing (All You Need Is Love) or some beautiful love song,” Chamberlain said.
“We’ll sway back and forth, and maybe hold hands, and fill the sidewalk so there’s no place for the protesters,” she said. “They’ll have to go find some other place to protest.
“That’s all we can do is shine a light on it.”
Villa is an elementary school teacher with 13 years of experience in classrooms in Toronto who has taken a break from teaching. She moved recently to Sarnia and took part in the store’s first Drag Queen Story Time earlier this year.
“The first one in June was fantastic,” Chamberlain said. “I stood back and watched and saw the joy in the kids’ faces.”
In that moment, Chamberlain said she remembers telling herself: “This is why I’m doing this. This is the right thing.”
Drag Queen Story Time is for all ages and attracts toddlers to teenagers, along with accompanying parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, Chamberlain said.
It’s usually a small group of maybe a dozen.
Chamberlain said Drag Queen Story Times have been held in other communities for years, but it wasn’t until Villa came to town that she knew of someone locally who could lead one at the store.
As an experienced teacher, Villa was “a perfect fit” for story time, Chamberlain said.
“We are given years of training on how to engage young people through literature,” Villa said. “I come with training and experience. I’ve read hundreds and hundreds of books to kids.”
Villa said the story times at the Book Keeper are the first she has read stories in character as a drag performer.
“I just try and give out lots of positive energy” and “stay focused on the book,” Villa said.
“We get a lot of cool reactions. I often stick around for pictures with the families at the end.”
She added, “It’s just a perfectly peaceful, amazing vibe.”