A large crowd gathered early Tuesday morning in front of the Beverly Chicago Public Library branch, 1962 W. 95th St. After being notified that several groups planned to protest the scheduled drag story time, the advocacy organization Trans Up Front IL organized a counter-action to ensure children and their families could attend safely.
“We were alerted directly by librarians from this library, as well as librarians from across the city who are part of a LGBT coalition of their own,” said Asher McMaher, executive director of Trans Up Front IL. “They contacted us late Saturday, and we had the call to action up by Saturday night, and we’re really happy. We have about 50 people out here on a Tuesday at 9:30 in the morning, making sure that families can just have a fun story time.”
Although the threatened protests drew significant attention online—largely due to congressional candidate Christian Maxwell posting social media videos about the story time—the protesters were vastly outnumbered by counter-demonstrators. Maxwell herself did not attend the event, despite previously claiming she would.
“The people who showed up were spewing hate speech,” McMaher said. “They were using curse words. They were outside of a children’s event, saying very inappropriate things when we’re here spreading love. And we want every kid, every parent, to know that regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, whatever it is, that we want them here with us celebrating pride.”
Supporters of the story time began to arrive at 9:30 a.m. to ensure that the parents and children attending the story time at 10:30 a.m. could enter safely. Early on, two representatives from Chicago Flips Red, an organization dedicated to promoting conservative values, showed up and began angrily screaming insults at community members. Volunteers from the progressive organization Indivisible Chicago as well as staff from Trans Up Front IL reminded everyone to remain calm and to not engage physically with the protestors.
Armed with rainbow flags, hand drawn signs and noise-makers, community members drowned out the few angry voices. When protesters tried to breach the barricade, the rally attendees turned their backs and yelled chants like, “Hey ho, trans hate has got to go.”
At one point, Mel Tilman was standing behind one of the protesters as she was being blocked out. When she turned around, she karate-chopped Tillman’s sign, tearing it in two.
“I was shocked,” said Tillman. “I’m non-violent, and I really think we can do more if we remain non-violent. And now, she did not injure me, but it is [scary] right? It was just really intense.”
Tilman, who resides in Worth, Illinois, was inspired to attend after their own attempts to hold queer events at their local library were shut down by conservative residents. They drove to Beverly to help ensure this event wouldn’t meet a similar fate.
Also in attendance was Nancy McGourty, a Beverly resident who learned about the event through several Facebook groups. As the mother of queer children, she said she worries for their safety every day in light of increasingly hostile rhetoric. For her, showing up was a way to stand in solidarity with the parents who chose to bring their children to the story time.
“There are people who have literally surrounded and harassed [my child] to the point where it’s dangerous,” said McGourty. “I certainly live with worrying about my child’s safety every day.”
Despite the circumstances that prompted the event, spirits remained high. A speaker played upbeat songs by queer artists, while a bubble machine whirled. At one point, to avoid loitering accusations, supporters strutted back and forth in front of the library as if it were a runway.
Families arriving for the story time were greeted with cheers and safely escorted into the library. One such family was Anna Carvlin and Sussan Navabi, who brought their one-year-old daughter to attend the storytime. They registered before the event became a target and were glad to see the library didn’t cave to threats by canceling the event. The community protection and support also made them feel safer.
“It’s scary to go to anything now, but we still try to get out and support events,” said Carvlin. “I try to not let that stop me from going to things. But there’s always something in the back of my mind, that some person is going to come out and use that negative energy to do something violent. I recognize some of these faces, and I also don’t recognize some of these faces. So that means some people came out from other neighborhoods. It’s nice to have that support.”
