Susan Chamberlain was right – protesters did show up again.
But through the first 45 minutes of a rally Saturday morning in front of the Sarnia business she owns, The Book Keeper, it wasn’t the same group that marched towards the store in late November and prompted calls to police amid safety concerns.
“Certainly not the men in black,” Chamberlain said.
About a dozen masked men dressed in matching black uniforms marched across the parking lot at the Northgate plaza toward the book store to protest a monthly Drag Queen Story Time event being held there that day. Chamberlain said similar protests have been taking place across North America specifically aimed at these story time events and drag shows, highlighted by the tragic shooting in a Colorado LGBTQ nightclub in November.
In response to what occurred in Sarnia, a preplanned rally called All You Need Is Love on social media was held Saturday ahead of the latest story time session.
“We had some ugly protesting happening in November and this is the response to it,” Chamberlain said.
It featured a party-like atmosphere through the first half hour of the 9:30 am to 10:30 am gathering. A group of perhaps 100 wearing colorful costumes stood in the parking lot listening to love-themed music playing over a loudspeaker. They held signs with phrases such as, ‘Drag saves lives,’ ‘Love and caring are equal to any other kind,’ and, ‘Hate is not a protected right. Love is.’
“Sarnia is not having it, so the love has shown up and I’m really thrilled,” Chamberlain said as Elton John’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight played in the background.
A handful of protesters walked up to the site shortly after 10 am holding signs, but they were dressed in regular clothes and weren’t marching in unison. One man held a white sign stating, ‘Stop grooming our children. Stop woke agenda indoctrination,’ and walked into the heart of the crowd with a stack of papers he attempted to hand out.
“It’s just bull****,” Chamberlain said of the argument drag-related events groom children for pedophiles “Kids come with their parents just like they go everywhere with their parents.”
The man was met by a wall of signs from the pro-rally group. The clash was relatively low-key, with the man not saying much and the opposing side telling each other not to touch him.
Sarnia police, including a cruiser labeled supervisor, were on site through the early portion of the rally, but they left shortly before the protesters arrived.
Amanda Villa was expected to lead the store’s story time around 10:30 am
“She’s fantastic,” Chamberlain said.
An event wasn’t held in December due to Christmas.