A group of protesters disrupted a drag queen story hour event at a bookstore in Campbell Wednesday night, organizers said.
Just as in similar incidents that happened in the Bay Area and across the nation this year, participants were called homophobic and transphobic slurs.
The audience later cheered as protesters were forced to leave the event hosted by Tori Tia at the Books Inc. store in Campbell. People who attended the event told NBC Bay Area the protesters showed up with signs, and at one point, a few of them pretended to be a part of the audience.
“He was saying like some really transphobic stuff. Like he was calling me a 'transvestite' and I shouldn’t be let around the children, and the parents should be ashamed of themselves,” said Tori Tia, a drag queen story time reader.
In the days leading up to the event, Books Inc. said that it received several phone calls against the drag queen story hour event. They said that they made sure to contact police before and during the event.
Campbell police confirmed to NBC Bay Area Wednesday that they responded to the incident but added the protest was in a public space and no laws were broken.
“I’m really proud of not only our Gay and Queer community, but our allies and the parents that brought their children and made sure their children knew nothing but the love and the light that we were there, to be there for them,” said Tori Tia.
Both Tori Tia and Silicon Valley Pride were made aware of possible protesters, so they called on their LGBTQ+ community members to come out and make sure it didn’t escalate as it has in recent incidents.
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Last June, a group, who police said appeared to be members of the right-wing extremist group Proud Boys stormed into another drag queen story hour event at the San Lorenzo Public Library, and the incident turned into a possible hate crime investigation.
“It tells us that we have a lot more work to do, I think even in a progressive state such as California, there is still underlined bigotry, there's underlined hate, there's underlined stereotyping and ignorance,” said Silicon Valley Pride CEO Nicole Altamirano.
Even though the protesters continued their disruptions outside, Tori Tia said she kept reading, something she said she couldn't have done without all of the support she received.
