Ohio public library cancels ‘Drag 101’ class after receiving ‘veiled threats’

An Ohio public library is no longer planning to host a one-day “Drag 101” class for teens due to the number of “veiled threats” it received. 

The Delaware County District Library had planned to hold a class taught by former Miss Gay Ohio America and local drag queen Selena T. West at its Orange branch on June 5, according to The Columbus Dispatch. 

But library spokeswoman Nicole Fowles said that the library had received hundreds of phone calls and emails, many from out of state, about the event following its announcement. 

{mosads}“A small number of (the phone calls and emails) were hostile,” Fowles said, adding that the high volume of messages at one point interfered with the librarians’ ability to work. “A smaller number were veiled threats.”

The library decided on Tuesday that it would cancel the event after holding a meeting with Delaware County Sheriff Russell Martin.

“When we went into the meeting, he said he shared our concerns, and that was the final decision for us,” Fowles told the Dispatch. “It really does break our hearts.” 

The class will instead be hosted at a local comic book store in early June. The class’s goal is to show that “drag is for everyone,” the newspaper noted. 

This isn’t the first time a library’s plan to teach children and young adults about drag has sparked controversy. A South Carolina library event called “Drag Queen Story Hour” led to a petition with the hope of shutting it down in January.