The Bay Area’s LGBTQ+ community and a Campbell bookstore say they are moving forward with its "Drag Queen Story Hour" event next week, in spite of the homophobic slurs and threats of protests.
Last year, a group of protesters barged into Books Inc. as San Jose resident Tori Tia read to dozens of children and their parents.
Now, there are calls for another protest after Tori Tia says a negative story about her was created and shared on social media.
“When I looked at the comments, I got nervous, especially after now that my face, my regular face was really blasted on that page,” she said.
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Books Inc. and Silicon Valley Pride say the same group and its supporters have sent them messages containing homophobic and transphobic slurs.
“Once we saw the comments rolling in, we decided, one let's block this person from our page. Let's also put notice out to our community to let them know we need their support,” said Silicon Valley Pride CEO Nicole Altamirano.
Dozens of tickets have sold and Silicon Valley Pride has hired private security for the event on Thursday.
They believe the LGBTQ+ community is seeing an uptick in hate directed at them now more than ever.
In a statement, Books Inc. said “the fact that some people want to shout hateful things at children makes me angry but determined to keep our store safe and supportive.”
