This article originally appeared in them.
This past weekend, LGBTQ+ events at three separate venues around the country were targeted with bomb threats.
As initially reported by LGBTQ Nation, the targeted events were set to take place in New York City, New Haven, and Salt Lake City this past weekend. No bombs were found in any of the targeted venues, but the threats caused significant disruptions, including the evacuation of a dialysis clinic located above an LGBTQ+ center in New Haven.
The Connecticut city’s police force told local outlet FOX 61 that they had received a 911 report at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday regarding a bomb threat toward the New Haven Pride Center that was circulating via email. The Center offers services such as case management, free toiletries, a pantry, and a clothing closet, in addition to social programming and other services. According to the New Haven Independent, the surrounding area was set to host a pride week closing celebration that had been cancelled due to inclement weather. The email stated that a bomb had been placed on Orange Street, near Yale University, and would be activated at 1 p.m. Patients from the DaVita Dialysis Center, located above the Center, had to be evacuated via ambulance. The area was investigated by the New Haven Police Department Hazardous Device Team, and was deemed safe by 1:45 p.m.
Still, New Haven Pride Center executive director Juancarlos Soto told FOX 61 that the team was “a little shaky.”
“I think regardless of whenever you get something like this, it shakes you a little bit and reminds you that, you know, LGBTQ people are under attack across our entire country,” Soto said.
That same day, a similar threat took place just a few hours away from New Haven, in Brooklyn. On Saturday morning, the Cortelyou branch of the Brooklyn Public Library received an emailed bomb threat from an anonymous source in Buffalo right before a Drag Story Hour event was set to begin at 11 a.m., according to the New York Post. The event was moved to the Connecticut Muffin coffee shop, one block away from the library. Similarly, the New York Police Department investigated the premises but didn’t find any bombs on site.
One parent, Dayna Sedillo-Hamman, told the Post that this was the second time she had attended a Drag Story Hour, only for it to be relocated due to a threat. “It’s just frustrating,” Sedillo-Hamman said to the publication. “People are really small-minded.”
Although the Brooklyn Public Library was able to relocate its event, the King’s English Bookstore in Salt Lake City, Utah was forced to cancel its drag queen story hour altogether on Sunday, per the Salt Lake Tribune. The bookstore received a call claiming that there was a bomb threat on Sunday morning, leading the Salt Lake City Police Department to close off the surrounding area to investigate the threat. The building received the all-clear by 11:30 a.m., following an investigation. But the bookstore remained closed for the day, and the event was cancelled.
The event, which has been hosted by drag queen Tara Lipsyncki since June, usually benefits the nonprofit Brainfoodbooks, which provides books to children in need in Utah. Lipsyncki told the Tribune that they were “frustrated” about the bomb threat and subsequent cancellation. “Because it’s like we are making so much progress with all this ... we’ve been doing so well,” Lipsyncki said. “It’s so annoying and frustrating because people can’t live and let live.”
Such threats, sadly, are far from an anomaly these days. The LGBTQ+ advocacy organization GLAAD tracked at least 161 incidents of anti-LGBTQ+ protests and threats targeting drag events from early 2022 to April 2023. This has largely resulted from a years-long right wing campaign that has demonized drag artists as child predators.
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