LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Drag Queen Storytime has put future events on hold in Kentucky following the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's alert regarding heightened concerns of domestic terrorism threats against marginalized groups across the county, including the LGBTQ+ community.
The Louisville-based nonprofit brings local drag artists to libraries across the commonwealth to read stories to children in the community.
"Safety has and will always be out priority," officials wrote in a Facebook post. "We are committed to providing Queer education programming, but your safety is not negotiable."
DHS released the security alert in late November following a shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs and other hate-motivated attacks toward marginalized groups.
"Lone offenders and small groups motivated by a range of ideological beliefs and/or personal grievances continue to pose a persistent and lethal threat to the Homeland," the DHS said.
The Proud Boys, a designated hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, recently forced an Ohio community to cancel its drag story time event and threatened to return if it was rescheduled.
Drag Queen Storytime Kentucky posted to social media saying its staff are safe and no threats have been made against the organization at this time.
However, that's not stopping them from being prepared.
"We will not have any events until further notice," the nonprofit said. "We as a board need time to figure out and try to find ways how we can hire security for any of our events."
This has caught the attention of the Fairness Campaign, which plans to introduce legislation in Frankfort in the near future.
"I expect to see this pushback manifest in places like Frankfort where we're getting ready to face another onslaught of anti-LGBT bills that would marginalize and discriminate our community," Executive Director Chris Hartman said.
If anyone sees any threats or plans of causing harm to the organization, you are asked to contact local authorities and alert the organization immediately.
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