Protest over drag story hour in Waterville

WATERVILLE, Maine (WABI) - Two opposing parties gathered outside of a bookstore in downtown Waterville for a protest.

The protest which started at 10am this morning was a result of a drag queen story hour at the Children’s Book Cellar where a woman dressed in drag was reading to children.

The Mayor of Waterville Jay Coelho says people should be able to peacefully read to children if they choose.

On the other hand, the opposing party says they are grooming the children and should be stopped.

“We are a melting pot of people. And that’s the way it’s supposed to be. And everyone is equal in our society. And I want to make sure that while I’m here in this office, that I fight for those ideals, because these are our kids, these are our members of our community. The people protesting don’t even live here,” said Coelho.

“I want to see people stop sexualizing kids, I want kids to be left alone. Let kids be kids. When I was 10 or 11 years old, I wasn’t thinking about what gender I was, or sex or anything like that. I was, you know, the, what happened to when the opposite sex had cooties. You know, when we went through that phase, we all kids just be kids. That’s the that’s the goal. I want,” said a protestor.

The owner of the bookstore says she has gotten dozens of nasty emails requesting that she does not hold the story time.

This was her first one since covid.

She says she is doing it because she wants everyone to feel comfortable in their skin.