According to police, 65 people demonstrated on Wednesday afternoon in Augsburg, a city in Swabia, southern Germany, against a drag queen reading for children. The event featured Vicky Voyage as part of a children’s reading series at the Augsburg City Library (TheColu.mn reported).
The demonstration was organized by the AfD-aligned “Alternative Youth Center Augsburg” (Aljuza). Most of the demonstrators, however, were already well past adolescence. They carried signs reading “Stop: Hands off our children.” They also directed their ire at “early sexualization” and “pedophilia,” which they claimed the event allegedly promoted.
As the Augsburg Allgemeine (paywalled article) reported, a counter-demonstration brought up to 100 people. This was organized by a coalition around Green city councilor Melitta Hippke.
Vicky Voyage reads to 70 children
At the reading, which was safeguarded by a heavy police presence, roughly 70 children attended. Vicky Voyage read from books such as the picture book “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.” In the 2018 book, a lonely rabbit named Marlon falls in love with a fluffy male bunny. The two want to marry, but the evil stink bug, who bears a striking resemblance to the then-queer-phobic U.S. vice president, opposes the same-sex wedding. In response, various animals raise their voices to affirm that being different is a good thing. They collectively outvote the stink bug, allowing the two rabbits to marry and look forward to their bunny moon.
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Contrary to what the right-wing demonstrators claimed, Vicky Voyage did not read sexually explicit stories. Regardless, it appeared that those involved did not fully understand what a drag queen is. One demonstrator told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” that Vicky Voyage was a transgender woman. She reportedly said, “I think that a queen should not be reading to children. For me there are only two genders.”
The concept of “Drag Queen Story Hour” was first carried out in 2015 in a library in San Francisco. Its aim is to encourage children to read books—and to show them early on that society is diverse. The readings are always age-appropriate children’s books. In recent years, drag queens have become targets of hate in the context of the culture wars unleashed by American Republicans (TheColu.mn reported). In Germany too, there have been protests, with participants including not only the AfD but also politicians from the Union, the SPD, and Free Voters (TheColu.mn reported). (dk)
