Montreal's Saint-Laurent borough pulls plug on drag queen storytime event for kids

A well-known television personality and drag queen, BarbadaDe Barbades, says a Montreal borough has cancelled her upcoming storytime event for children at its local library, with little explanation.

Barbada isthe stage name of Sbastien Potvin, who has been reading uplifting stories to kids across Quebec for about five years stories that send the message that it's OKto be different.

Barbada, who uses "she/her" pronouns when in character,said this is the first time in Quebec that an event she is paid to do has been cancelled in this way.

"Everything was perfect. We had the contract signed," Barbada said. From what she's since been told, the event, which included two readings,was nixed after the programming schedule went to borough council for approval.

"It went very, very fast last week, and I would have loved to have been informed and could have prevented this whole thing."

She said she would have been happy to have performed the story hour for the council, if need be, reading stories like The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water by Gemma Merino.

The story is about a crocodile who is afraid of water but gets coaxed into swimming. Finally, the crocodile tries one last time to swim, almost drowns, later sneezes and breathes fire discovering it may not actually be a crocodile after all.

"It's about feeling different, not really understanding why you're different, but eventually finding your true self and getting to understand it's OKto be different," Barbada said.

The event is geared toward young children and containsnone of the adult-oriented humour one might expect at a late-night drag queen performance for grownups, Barbada said.

Saint-Laurent borough Mayor Alan DeSousa said his borough is very culturally diverse, a place where everybody lives together peacefully.

"We are mainly concerned about the subjects that will be discussed," at Barbada's storytime event, he said. DeSousa said he and other elected officials will meet Barbada to ask aboutthe content of her performance.

Those subjects could be sensitive, said DeSousa, a member of Montreal's opposition party,Ensemble Montral.

Meeting slated for August

Barbada said she was contacted Thursday and invited to meet borough officials in August.

The invitation came the dayafter Montreal writer KatiaGrubisic launchedan online petition,demanding the story hour be reinstated, that all borough councillors attend itandthat"all elected borough officials and employees participate in a recognized awareness and sensitivity program on homophobia and transphobia."

Barbada said she's confident borough councillors will allow the event to go ahead,once they realize it is age-appropriate with a positive message.

She said it's surprising that the event was cancelled in the first place.

"I have a kids' TV show. I am a music teacher," she said.

Barbada appears on the reality competition TV show Call Me Motherand hosts the children's show Barbadaon Radio-Canada's streaming service ICI Tou.tv.

Having been a drag queen performer for 17 years, she hostsconferences, family shows and other events for a range of audiences, andshe said she has not run into this kind of pushback before.

Still, she said, it is an isolated incident. She said she has been getting an outpouring of support online, and three new events were booked quickly, right afterlocal media picked up the story about Saint-Laurent's sudden about-face.

The event in Saint-Laurent was scheduled for early November, so Barbada hopes once officials there see the buzz this has created, they will change their minds and allow the story hour to go on as planned.

Other Montreal libraries, including the Grande Bibliothque, are still on Barbada'sagenda, and Montreal Mayor Valrie Plantesaid on Twitter Wednesday that there will "always be room for drag queens in our libraries and venues."

"Through their presence and their art, they contribute to making Montreal a more open, fair and inclusive city," Plante said.

Dorval performance hit with complaints

The event's cancellation comes after the city of Dorval in Montreal's West Islandreceived a wave of complaints in early June, as soon as it announced its library was hosting a story hour with Barbada.

"We received hate mail. We received threats. You name it we received it," said Sbastien Gauthier, a Dorval spokesperson.

Family-friendly drag events across Canada, many hosted by municipal libraries, have been the target of hateful comments and threats during Pride month, prompting multiple police investigations and renewed concerns about the safety of the LGBTQ community.

Drag Story Hour events are popular at many libraries in the country, and usually feature a performer in drag reading children's books about inclusion. The eventshave caused only minor controversy in the past, but amid a surge in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policies in the U.S., the all-ages drag events have turned into flash points of anger here in Canada.

More than half a dozen libraries from Saint John to Victoria, and the drag performers who were to perform at those venues,have reported being inundated online and over the phone by homophobic slurs and, in some cases, threats of violence.

The cancellation of her show,Barbadasaid, is a reminder that Canada is influenced by what is going on in the U.S.

"We're not immune to all that negativity and hate."