April 20, 2023 11:01 AM UTC

Boebert Unintentionally Turns Glenwood Springs Fabulous

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent reports, last Saturday saw the town’s first-ever drag queen storytime event go off without a hitch, an event unintentionally inspired by Colorado’s premiere culture-warrior headliner Rep. Lauren Boebert:

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Silt, shared tweets last year telling drag queens to stay out of her district with storytimes, and recently posted divisive tweets against the trans community.

If anything, the Arauzas joined Bluebird Cafe Justin Bishop in being more concerned about the people who have political opinions against the Divas and other members of the LGBTQ+ community… [Pols emphasis]

That’s the thing about demanding people “stay out of your town” when you don’t have any legal authority to do so: that just makes them more likely to show up. And show up the drag queens did, bringing with them…factually accurate stories about the history of LGBTQ+ people in America. The horror!

Each Diva picked the stories they told, and they were all centered on self-love, inclusivity and even some of the origins of Pride and backstories of queer heroes, like the story of late California politician Harvey Milk, “the most famous and most significant openly LGBT official ever elected in the United States,” Milk’s final campaign manager, Anna Kronenberg said in 2002.

Diva Thelma Thunderthighs said that it is crucial to remember the people who have laid the path for others today.

“I think it’s so good to look at the good, but it’s imperative to know that our history is not the proverbial rainbows,” they said. “We’ve had dark times, and that was a dark time. It’s important for the kids to know not to dwell on that, but to know we’ve come a long way.”

Although additional security was on hand to prevent any disruption, by all accounts Glenwood’s first drag storytime hour was a big success–and in no way inappropriate for the kids:

“There was nothing about that event that was inappropriate for my children,” [parent Steven Arauza] said. “It is highly inappropriate for bigoted people to sexualize children’s events for political gain, which was the reason why we had to have security as a thing in the first place.” [Pols emphasis]

In the end, children were only enriched educationally, and the symbolic protest against Rep. Boebert’s intolerance was lodged. It could be the first of many drag queen storytime hours across Boebert’s district. It’s not like the Roaring Fork Divas didn’t exist before Boebert, but Boebert’s demagoguery created the rallying point to publicly push back.

As a result, Boebert gets what she wants least.