Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

Manchester Evening News

Entertainment

Jenna Campbell

Drag queen reading tour comes to Greater Manchester after previous shows hit by protests

Aida H Dee Greater Manchester Manchester Libraries Bolton

A drag queen book reading tour is coming to Greater Manchester after previous shows were hit by protests.

Drag Queen Story Hour, which sees creator and drag queen Aida H Dee read and perform stories to parents and young children, saw angry protesters storming Reading Central Library last Monday, with further protests during its Bristol leg on Thursday.

As Bristol live reported, on Monday, July 25, protesters stormed the event at Reading Central Library - some with their own children - to protest, with police having to get involved and Aida having to be escorted to her next event location while a human wall was formed to protect her.

This was followed by protests in Bristol on Thursday, July 28, in which demonstrators for and against the event waved flags and carried banners.

The fun and interactive reading event has been created to ‘engage children’s creativity and love for reading by giving them a brand-new, positive experience, one page at a time, all the while learning and communicating’. In a show of defiance, scheduled events at libraries in both Rochdale and Bolton will still take place on Tuesday, August 16 through to Thursday, August 18.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News ahead of their events in Rochdale and Bolton later this month, Aida said: “I think although we were aware, we weren’t expecting the hatred to be manifested so strongly. We've found out that the majority of people who have protested at any event, were not actually from that area and lots of them aren’t even parents themselves - I think the protesters are actually victims themselves, victims of misinformation.

Drag Queen Story Hour is currently on a nationwide tour around the UK (Drag Queen Story Hour UK/Facebook)

“The main thing we want to ensure is that this is a fun and safe event for all families that are attending. We had the concern that because of the commotion outside the libraries that families would not want to attend, but actually we’ve found more people are wanting to come now, and it’s almost like these families are doing their own protest by making sure they attend."

Conversely, an event held in Crewe on Wednesday, July 27 was not disrupted and went ahead "extremely well". Writing on Facebook, the team behind Drag Queen Story Time Hour said: "The Story Hour was not disrupted by any protesters, everything went smoothly and all went to plan! All attendees loved it, and the feedback was 100%! One child gifted Aida H Dee The Storytime Drag Queen with their own personal drawing of her!"

Aida H Dee describes themselves as an ADHD and autistic 27-year-old who has been patron of Autistic Inclusive Meets London for over two years. She is a published author of two children's books and has appeared as an official act for The British Museum during The Queen's Jubilee. She also has a five star Edinburgh Fringe act, has been featured on Forbes Magazine for being an activist for neurodivergence, and has been shortlisted as Local Leader Of The Year 2022 by PinkNews.

Aida’s summer tour will make stops further stops in locations including Cardiff, Leeds and Blackpool, before heading to Rochdale Central Library, Middleton Library and Heywood Library on Tuesday, August 16. Aida will then head to a selection of libraries in Bolton on Wednesday, August 17 and Thursday, August 18.

"The tour was meant to be a drag queen story, and we provide LGBT shows, which are literacy focused, where the stories themselves are bound by inclusivity. The stories are encouraging people to not just accept differences of other people but like and adore differences.

“When we’ve run events before there were always people online who were saying bad things, but no hateful people attended, and it was well attended, no problems. I do think there is the question, why is it different now?

“I think it’s people thinking that it will go away, and we will not go away. We are here to stay. As many librarians say, we are making history, this tour is the start of something that will go down in the history books.”