Protesters clashed outside London’s Tate Britain museum on Saturday over a drag queen storytelling event.
About 30 demonstrators showed up to protest the Drag Queen Story Hour U.K. event, which featured drag performer and author Aida H Dee reading to kids and families.
The protest was organized by the far-right group Patriotic Alternative, according to local media reports.
Carrying signs that read “Drag reading shut down” and “Leave our kids alone,” the anti-LGBTQ protesters stood outside the Central London museum hoping to disturb the event.
But according to organizers, all three planned shows went on “and they were extremely successful.”
One person was arrested on “suspicion of making a racially aggravated comment towards a police officer,” the BBC reported citing a Metropolitan Police spokesperson.
A group of about 30 counter-protesters also showed up at the museum carrying signs that read “Trans rights now” and “Don’t let the far right divide us.”
The event was described by the world-famous museum as an “exciting pop-up” featuring Dee, an “ADHD, neurodivergent, queer hero of literature, theatre, and children’s entertainment.”
The artist and author — who was named “Local Leader of the Year” in 2022 by the British LGBTQ outlet PinkNews — later shared a photo on social media celebrating the event’s success.
“I performed my OWN published books AND IT WAS FABULOUS!!!” Dee tweeted, adding the hashtag #QueerJoy and three rainbow flag emojis.
Protests organized by far-right groups against drag events are getting increasingly common across the U.S. Last year, several family-oriented shows featuring drag performers were forced to be canceled because of threats from groups such as the Proud Boys. Oftentimes, protesters show up to the manifestations carrying guns.
