A library in the southern suburbs of Chicago announced Monday it had canceled its drag queen event for teenagers “due to threats.”
The event, a drag queen bingo, was an apparent effort to celebrate National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11 and was open to seventh graders through seniors in high school, according to a report.
However, the bingo was canceled, as “it is not possible to provide a safe place for everyone due to the threats made,” according to a statement from the Downers Grove Public Library.
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The exact nature of the threats was not released by the library, according to the report.
“Due to the severity of the threats made against the library, we have been forced to cancel the event. It is our responsibility to keep you safe,” Library Director Julie Milavec said.
“We are disappointed and saddened by the some of the vitriolic feedback that we received for what was meant to be an evening of fun and celebration of self-identity and self-expression.”
If it had gone on, the drag bingo event would have included a feature from drag queen Aurora Divine, rounds of bingo, and a “short, age-appropriate” lip-sync performance of pop artist Katy Perry, according to the report.
The event would have provided “a window to the world, as well as a mirror to it, creating opportunities for patrons to see the wonderfully diverse community in which we live,” Milavec said.
Mayor Keith Pekau, the Republican nominee for Illinois’s 6th Congressional District, disagrees.
“I join parents across the district in denouncing this event, just as I would denounce a library introducing kids to straight sex by holding a burlesque show,” Pekau said in a statement last month.
“To be clear, I have no interest in regulating the private, consensual activities and decisions of adults. This event, however, targets children. It’s inappropriate, and an unacceptable use of taxpayer funds.”
In the statement announcing the event, the library said the event was not going to be sexual in nature.
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“We want everyone in our community to see the library and know they are represented and cared for here,” it read.
