PUBLISHED 07.09.2023
READING TIME 8

As part of a larger than life post COVID Mayo Pride Festival in Westport in 2022,  local book stop, Tertulia agreed to host story hour; where a drag queen reads a children’s story to a group of children and their parents. Popularised in the US, ‘story hour’ is for young people “who are learning about the world around them” aiming to “capture the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood”.

 

In the weeks preceding the event Mayo Pride organisers and the bookshop were aware of some unhappiness with the storytelling event. Tertulia bookshop in particular came under pressure for a short intensive period in what was a fairly organised campaign.  

This wasn’t the first time this happened. When first organised in 2021  (outside due to Covid-19 restrictions) the bookshop experienced some online backlash mainly in the form of uncharacteristically negative reviews on google and an attempt by some to ‘book out’ the event online. Despite this the bookshop owners decided to go ahead with an event the following year “our mission is to create a shared social space. And in that shared social space to be inclusive of everybody”. And in fact felt “privileged to be asked by Mayo Pride to take part”. 

The was the first Pride event of this size in Co Mayo organised by an active thriving LGBTQ+ community and allies. Organisers had worked to ensure it was supported by the local community in Westport with a full line up of festivities and a historic first in terms of a parade through the town. The event was going off brilliantly when a number of people wishing to disrupt the event arrived outside the bookshop just before the Story Hour got underway. Word of their disruption spread to the LGBTQ+ community celebrating a few hundred yards away and a snap decision was made to descend down to the bookshop “to support our queen ”and also “to show up for the Trans members of our rainbow community”. 

The two sides met outside the Bookshop on Westport Quay as the Story Hour continued inside. Footage from the exchanges was picked up by local, national and international media followed by an outpouring of support from allies and the public in general. This put Mayo Pride on the map and also surfaced questions about the targeting of LGBTQ+ communities and to what extent this was orchestrated by the far right.

 

Far right involvement 

 

Mayo Pride organisers and those advertising the event noticed an increase in online trolling in response to Story Hour. There is no doubt in the run up to the festival Tertulia bookshop was on the receiving end of an orchestrated campaign. The timing volume and scale of messages and language used had all the hallmarks of organised tactics by the far right.

“So I got a phone call from a lady saying, I hear you are reading pornographic material to children in the bookshop. And I just went, you’re sick and put the phone down”

Phone calls to Tertulia came regularly after this and a steady stream of abuse on Twitter, Instagram and FaceBook. Emails were received and an estimated 100 voice messages were left. It did sound like a script was being used or advice had been given. 

“You know, so anything where they knew they were being recorded, they didn’t say anything abusive, you know, in that sentence. They said they wanted clarity but you just know that those people are not actually asking for clarity at all.”

Leitrim Against Facism shared excerpts from Telegram with Tertulia which included a picture of the bookshop and a message to followers that “these people were not listening” and a call to “show up at the shop and tear apart the parents who are bringing their children to this because they are paedophiles”. Comments were attributed directly to Rise Up Eireann and Proud Boys Ireland. Another comment encouraged people to again show up at the shop “and give them hell” all of which the owners found “fairly shocking”. 

Interviews with members of the LGBTQIA+ community and local business generated an important contextual analysis disentangling the organised far right from local people which included conservative Christians, a member of a well known Evangelical Christian family, a recognised and very vocal anti-vaxxer and then people who were “possibly more easily led”.  

 

“Yeah. I think that there was definitely outsider involvement for sure. I, I absolutely don’t think [locals named] would’ve protested. They [the far right] mobilised local people that are green around the ears, got them agitated and they started protesting a Pride event that their own family were involved in because some of their own families have LGBTQ+ community members’ ‘. 

Community Interview

At the disruption itself some of the placards had Americanised spelling of certain words for example “Stop Sexualizing Children ” . “ You had the feeling that it was somebody who’s been funded by the States and shown what to write on signs because, you know, there were ‘Z’s’ in the words, there was American spelling everywhere”. 

A far right protester identified as a Galway based extremist arrived with a camera and was agitated and aggressive from the get go “they had the camera in my face and like, you know, he was so close to my face, I just pushed the camera away and he accused me of assaulting him. They just wanted a reaction”. 

An organiser with Mayo Pride speaking about the same man described him as “ clearly leading the group and was by far the most agitated. He seemed most animated about drag queens grooming children to become trans and change their gender. The inaccuracy was off the charts and really unbelievable. You had to wonder who had fed them some of this stuff”. 

Whilst the disruption claimed to be about Drag Story hour there was a direct attack on the LGBTQ+ community with language becoming toxic and aggressive “paedophile perverts” “abortion supporters” “sexual deviants” and the need to “protect biological women”. This was deeply upsetting for younger members of the community particularly those who identified as non binary and Trans. It’s also the identifiable language of hate associated with the far right. 

A community responding

Tertulia bookshop did not engage in conversation directly or online with those targeting the bookshop in the event run up. “ It was just a huge amount of abuse so we blocked, blocked, blocked. I spent the week blocking”. And once they had verified the information sent to them about the far right targeting the event they to the local guards. 

“We were asking ourselves, is this actually dangerous? Is anybody going to be hurt here? What’s the right thing to do? You know? So we went to the guards and they did take it seriously”. 

Mayo Pride and Tertulia bookshop were clear the event would go ahead. Bookshop owners, half expecting a few  to show up,  were on their guard and made contact with An Gardai Síochána when a number of people turned up with placards outside the shop. The bookshop owner’s engagement with the first group of disrupters is revealing. 

“ So the first people who arrived were Christians…. there were about eight of them”. One of the book shop owners addressed them directly and clearly stated “ I respect your right to protest if that’s what you want to do, but you must stay away and not harass people”. 

The disrupters were apparently very taken aback by their response “because they were expecting me to fight with them” and they were “fairly respectful”. “I thought this was a fairly interesting dynamic”. There was even a little banter at one point when one of the owners pointed out one of the signs “down with that kind of thing” was a quote from Father Ted. To which they responded it was. The bookshop owners wanted to keep calm and ensure the children and families inside at Story hour had a positive experience. Upon reflection one of the interviewees felt that these initial people who showed up  (fundamental Christians more so than far right agitators) wanted to be heard too. 

The LGBTQIA+ community were resolute and immediate in their response to the disruption . Upon learning protesters were outside the event the crowd were encouraged to put down their pints‘ ‘and “show some love and support for the children, the parents and our queen who’s gonna read to these children”. 

The community gathered outside the bookshop singing and cheering outnumbering the disrupters significantly. Far right agitators had at this point joined the protest and “everything went up a notch”. The Pride participants included some seasoned activists who faced down threats and insults with one particular exchange between Panti Bliss and a far right agitator going viral within hours of the event. The use of humour and courage in responding to very divisive and at times hateful rhetoric appeared to strike a chord with the public who in their thousands donated to Mayo Pride 2023.

 

What Helped

 

Many people led in different ways in terms of this community based response. Firstly, Story Hour went ahead down to the resolution and quiet determination of bookshop owners. They had forecasted a second year running there could be more trouble making them wonder briefly if they should do it again.

And well if we don’t do it aren’t they [the far right] are winning? Then they’re the ones that are deciding what we do and what we don’t and we can’t, we just can’t have that”. 

Community Interview

The local Gardai had advised not to cancel the event and their commitment that they would have a presence if a disruption transpired was hugely reassuring. A vibrant well attended well organised Pride Festival was the container that allowed so many people to express their shared appreciation for inclusivity, diversity and love in Co Mayo that day. The community of Westport were very supportive of the Pride festival with the majority of local businesses supporting the event including a public backing from Westport Chamber of Commerce. 

The LGBTQIA+ community itself showed tremendous leadership on the day whether it was younger community members being ‘out’ at their first Gay Pride or seasoned activists who made the snap decision to stand with their Drag Queen and face down protestors. Experienced organisers in the community were able to quickly respond to the situation unfolding and identify the opportunity to influence how the media covered the event.  

 

Challenges 

 

There is a question mark over the effectiveness and indeed safety of counter demonstrations when it comes to the far right. In Westport it appears the positive outcomes outweighed the negative but it wasn’t without its challenges. 

The heat and language of the protest undoubtedly went up in tempo when hundreds of Mayo Pride participants arrived in support of Drag Queen Annie Queeries and the event. One of the event organisers did wonder if the local gardai could and should have intervened more when the protest heated up” others felt it was a “deliberate de-escalation tactic”.  

The increasingly aggressive rhetoric at the disruption had a direct and negative impact on younger, particularly Trans members of the LGBTQIA+ community. More experienced LGBTQIA+ activists were only too aware of the repercussionS of being directly impacted by hate. 

“ The younger people in the crowd who were part of Pride were very upset. Some were Trans and some were bisexual and pansexual and they were spitting such vitriol at them that it was very hard on them. And there were quite a few tears and quite a few moms hugging their teenagers and consoling them”.

Community Interview

Outcomes

 

In reflecting on the counter demonstration as a whole one interviewee did reflect that for those with less experience of taking action or speaking out there were also some positive outcomes; “having to speak out helped them find leadership in themselves. I think it’s spurred some people to be a bit more active and assertive in their own fight for their own recognition. So there was that positive outcome also” 

The stand that people took on the day reinforced the values of diversity, inclusivity and resistance at the heart of the LGBTQ+ movement. A Mayo Pride organiser when asked about their own personal motivations for being involved was very reflective; 

 

“ I think of my teenage self [growing up gay in rural Ireland] and I still feel like we’re about 15 years behind the cities in the west of Ireland anyway when it comes to understanding of and acceptance of difference and diversity in our community. There is more to be done”. 

Community Interview

They remembered a powerful personal moment after the protests in conversation with friends and organisers from the community. [Paraphrasing Panti Bliss in a gathering with all of the Drag Queens] 

This is my chosen family, you know, this is why we do pride. And it’s moments like this that really mobilise us as a group and make us realise that we still have so much work to do and we’ve so much work to do for our trans community really. And we really need to stand by them as allies and we need to call out transphobia and Yeah. Talk about it more and educate people” .

One of the bookshop owners, when asked about an outcome from the community response, felt the hypocrisy of the far right who pertained to be concerned about the welfare of children and young people was laid bare. 

“For me the actual story hour there you had Auntie Annie sitting on the couch with six or seven children all surrounding her alongside their parents. Auntie Annie was asking questions of the children. And she started typing a letter to President Higgins. Like, and it was just so funny, you know, everybody was laughing and the protestors……… I noticed that the protestors, they didn’t even look in the window to see children laughing. You know, I found that ironic that instead they were upsetting young adults outside. And yet inside was nothing but like love and joy and, and fun and, and yet outside was just hatred and vileness”. 

Mayo Pride reached its fundraising target for 2023 within days of the event. “We got an outpouring of love and donations from philanthropists from all over the world”. And a small independently owned bookshop in the west of Ireland also benefited; Tertulia couldn’t keep up with orders for a time following the event and subsequent media coverage. 

Both Mayo Pride and Tertulia were inundated with messages of support and encouragement after the events of last July. There is a sense that organisations and people want to step up in their public support for the event and LGBTQIA+ community this year. However that’s never a straight line and some very important organisations like Mayo GAA had yet to declare their support for the Mayo Pride 2023 at the time of this research. Generally speaking though the community based response to the protesting of Drag Story Hour last year has by all accounts deepened the resolve of the local community in Westport and possibly wider public to protect the celebration of diversity and inclusivity at the heart of Pride. 

*A sincere thank you to Tertullia book shop owners and Mayo pride organiser interviewed for the Westport case study.

 

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