Moment police escorted two drag queens from children's story telling event as angry protesters shouting 'leave our kids alone' confronted them outside
Drag Queen Story Time at Holywood Arches Library in Belfast featured Lady Portia Di'Monte, known as the 'First Lady of Northern Irish drag', and Miss Dora Belle.
The ticket-only event was advertised as 'suitable for all ages and families' and to 'champion individuality and inclusivity amongst its young audiences, featuring sing-alongs and dancing.'
Lady Portia read storybooks to the children, including family favourites such as Dear Zoo, while Miss Dora Belle narrated them with British Sign Language (BSL).
Local parents protested outside the library before the police were called to escort the two drag artists away and appear to have given them a lift home.
There were no arrests but Northern Ireland's Communities minister Gordon Lyons has said the event was 'not appropriate for children' and 'should not have taken place'.
A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland said: 'Police attended a report of a small demonstration at the Holywood Arches area of east Belfast on Friday August 1, shortly after 1.40pm and engaged with those present.
'Two people were escorted from the building to further ensure that there would be no breach of the peace.
'At this stage, no offences were determined to have taken place.'
Footage of the incident showed at least three police officers attended the library.
Protesters called 'shame on you', 'leave our kids alone' and 'you do your thing but leave our kids alone' at the drag artists.
Lady Portia confronted the protesters and said they would have been welcome to attended and waved the classic story read to the children, Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell.
One critic commented on the video and said: 'The police are being used as a taxi service to ferry drag queens'.
The incident has sparked a political row in Northern Ireland with critics asking why the police needed intervene.
Protesters yelled at the drag queens, who said the protesters would have been welcome to attend. The protesters insisted they were banned
The Drag Queen Story Time event has sparked a political row with Northern Ireland's Communities minister saying it 'should not have taken place'
Northern Ireland's Communities minister Gordon Lyons has said the event had 'compromised the perception of our public libraries as a welcoming and inclusive space for all as set out in the Libraries NI policy'.
He said he has 'directed' his officials 'to liaise with Libraries NI to ensure that policy is faithfully implemented'.
While TUV MLA Timothy Gaston said: 'Drag performance, by its very nature, is a sexualised and exaggerated parody of womanhood — rooted in adult entertainment and gender subversion.
'Why then is it considered acceptable for someone best-known for adult-themed performances to adopt the same persona while reading stories to children?'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Moment drunken yobs spark emergency at 30,000 feet by refusing to stop vaping - forcing plane to turn back an hour into flight
Two drunken yobs caused a plane to return to the UK an hour into their flight as they refused to stop vaping in their seats. Police were called to Stansted Airport, where they waited for a Jet2 flight bound for Heraklion in Crete to return to London. Families were left extremely frustrated that the two men who were 'drunk as skunks' were allowed on board before take-off. Passengers said the pair started drinking alcohol after the scheduled 5.55am departure on Tuesday was delayed. Once the flight took off, pilots were forced to declare an emergency an hour into the flight and turn back to Stansted Airport. Footage shows the moment officers rushed onto the twin-jet Airbus A321 at 9.36am to cheers from passengers on he plane to detain the duo. One of the men was arrested after he was allegedly carrying cocaine and MDMA. Angry passengers let out their frustrations as one woman tells the men to 'get off!' while another shouts 'loser! before describing the pair as 'f****** b***ends!'. 'Do not get on a flight if you cannot control your drink!', another says before adding 'we love you police - thank you!'. However, one passenger was able to crack a joke as she quipped, 'nothing beats a Jet2 holiday' following the viral ad campaign starring pop star Jess Glynne. The duo, one of whom was wearing a back-to-front black baseball cap, ignored a cockpit announcement that warned that if they didn't stop vaping, the flight would have to return to the UK, one passenger revealed. The passenger said: 'On the flight the duo were so obnoxious. They began vaping, then kicked off when told to stop smoking. 'They couldn't understand or care just how dangerous it was for everyone on the plane. A source told The Sun: 'Passengers were livid. Everyone was looking forward to the start of the holiday.' They added: 'There were lots of kids on the plane and the airline should not allow these lunatics to spoil hard earned holidays.' The holidaymakers on the plane had to wait at Stansted Airport throughout the day for a service that evening that could take them on the four-hour journey to Greece. It is understood that Jet2 gave passengers a £10 voucher to be redeemed in WHSmith at Stansted. The airline has confirmed that a passenger has been handed a life ban as they described the behaviour as 'disgraceful' and 'aggressive'. A Jet2 spokesperson said: 'We can confirm that a customer has been issued with a lifetime ban following a catalogue of disgraceful and aggressive behaviour, which led to flight LS1577 from London Stansted to Crete Heraklion having to return to Stansted so that police could offload them. 'We would like to thank the police and our crew for their handling of this difficult situation. 'As a family friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive passenger behaviour and we will fully support the authorities with any subsequent investigation, including prosecutions and pursuing civil proceedings if necessary.' An Essex Police spokesman said: 'We were called at around 8.40am on Tuesday 5 August to reports of a disruptive passenger on board a flight bound for Greece. 'Officers were alerted to the flight's imminent return to Stansted Airport and detained two passengers for searches. 'A man, aged in his 20s, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, was taken into custody after a quantity of suspected Class A drugs was found. 'He has since been released under investigation.' The second passenger was detained by officers for a stop and search but was not arrested.
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Police officer rescues swan in ‘Hot Fuzz' moment
A police officer had a 'Hot Fuzz moment' when rescuing a wandering swan from the middle of a Colchester road. Essex Police 's heritage and wildlife crime officer PC Jed Raven, who likened the job to the popular British action film, was called out to move the bird on Monday. 'It was a bit of a wild goose chase, but I knew I had to wing it,' PC Raven said. The force said it had been returned safely. British actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost chased a missing swan as two police officers in the 2007 film set in the fictional town of Sandford. In the iconic scene, Mr Pegg plays bored police officer Nicholas Angel and is called in to track down the missing bird. Essex Police said: "The swan is now back to swanning about in its natural habitat, and PC Raven is officially the beak-on of community safety." In October 2023, three police officers were called in to escort a lost swan in Bath's city centre after it caused a flap among shoppers. Avon and Somerset officers appeared to handle the situation more smoothly than Constable Angel as three officers moved the bird on towards the nearby River Avon. One used a fluorescent police jacket to gently usher the wayward swan towards the river as shoppers pulled out their phones to snap the scene. Local Simon Galloway, 49, said: 'I was just out shopping with my wife and daughter – and we noticed a bit of commotion outside the shop. 'That was when we saw a cygnet being escorted down the street – presumably down to the river. There were loads of shoppers around, everyone had their phones out, laughing.'
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Rod Stewart's controversial AI tribute of Ozzy Osbourne with late stars including Michael Jackson, Prince and Amy Winehouse sparks backlash from fans who claim rocker's performance was a 'disgusting new low'
Rod Stewart 's controversial AI tribute of Ozzy Osbourne posing with late stars has sparked backlash from fans who claim the rocker's performance was a 'new low'. The Scottish singer, 80, who is currently on tour, displayed a bizarre AI-generated video earlier this week which showed Ozzy in heaven taking selfies with other late, legendary singers. Celebrities included Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Prince, XXXTentacion, Tina Turner and Bob Marley. Fans have shared their disgust on X over the last few days after discovering the 'disrespectful' clip. Comments read: 'This is bizarre for many reasons, not the least of which being the fact that Rod Stewart has performed with Ozzy Osbourne. 'Instead of blasting AI images of Ozzy in heaven, they could show this real & quite lovely picture of Rod Stewart with his arm around the actual Ozzy Osbourne', 'Rod Stewart could've literally just put up a photo of him with Ozzy, instead of this weird AI video', 'This is… definitely a choice. Rod Stewart using AI to show Ozzy in heaven with dead celebs? Wild, weird, and kinda hauntingly poetic', 'I hope several estates of several artists that are no longer here. SUE ROD STEWART! That was disgusting, and pathetic. Using Ai for their likeness at your concert. Without permission. SMDH!' Adding to the tribute, Rod reportedly told the crowd after the performance: 'Very sad. A lot of those people died 'cause of drugs… I'm still here, though!' Not everyone was offended, however, with one user posting: 'This is such a beautiful video. One that makes you think that he has reunited by legendary musicians who we have lost. 'There's not a single ounce of disrespect in it. There's already a bunch of videos that have been made following his passing with musicians, Jesus, with his dogs / cats, on bikes with bat wings but this one is the best version I've seen so far. 'Why the hate. People would criticise anything till they can criticise Thank you Rod ❤️HATE THE WAR not a peaceful happy video'. Another added: 'Distasteful, yes. Do I hate it? No. The gesture is coming from a good place, but it could have been done in a better way. Fans have shared their disgust on X over the last few days after discovering the 'disrespectful' clip While many had feared that Ozzy's family would be offended by the video, after its release, the late star's official account reposted a tribute shared by Rod on July 22 'I would have preferred it each each of their pictures get added one by one to a group picture like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band.' While many had feared that Ozzy's family would be offended by the video, after its release, the late star's official account reposted a tribute shared by Rod on July 22. The post read: 'Bye, bye Ozzy. Sleep well, my friend. I'll see you up there — later rather than sooner.'
