{"id":1512599,"date":"2022-06-12T17:34:05","date_gmt":"2022-06-12T21:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1512599"},"modified":"2022-06-12T17:34:13","modified_gmt":"2022-06-12T21:34:13","slug":"montana-zoo-faces-controversy-over-upcoming-drag-queen-story-hour-pride-month-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/montana-zoo-faces-controversy-over-upcoming-drag-queen-story-hour-pride-month-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Zoo Faces Controversy Over Upcoming Drag Queen Story Hour Pride Month Event"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmontana-zoo-faces-controversy-over-upcoming-drag-queen-story-hour-pride-month-event%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1512599&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Montana zoo faces backlash after scheduling a \u201cDrag Queen Story Hour\u201d for Pride month.<\/p>\n<p>ZooMontana in Billings, Montana, has planned the June 22 event, upsetting some in the local community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy are we putting such a contentious issue right in the heart of that area?\u201d the founder of the Montana Family Rights Alliance, Jenna McKinney, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvq.com\/news\/local-news\/zoomontana-not-backing-away-from-drag-queen-story-hour-after-community-backlash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> Thursday in a video call.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not appropriate. We really don\u2019t appreciate this in our community and especially at this venue,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>Despite concerns from McKinney and others, ZooMontana\u2019s Director Jeff Ewelt has no plans to cancel the event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have heard from many of you in regard to the 406 Pride Drag Queen Story Hour being held at the Zoo later this month. Let me be clear \u2013 ZooMontana prides itself in being inclusive of all living beings. 406 Pride is a respected and valued community asset, one we are proud to support and host at ZooMontana,\u201d the director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ZooMontana\/posts\/388972736598579?__cft__[0]=AZU-SN_FQbeoD0wTvF4xJZIuFbazD4CdRR2IgmYcHLr0slPs5U9LE-aYoE4-MmQ8IqPJPLmIYzqes03Na2y6q6eMoxA_ne22TTgtsGSXIRrQwVtYMsjjW8mUKZNQMgSzYFnDckpvHF4o_Hpn8o9tUzlvi9I67vxOpiZuAdD-4aUZQA&#038;__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> in a Facebook post on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile personal threats and threats of no longer supporting the Zoo are concerning, we will not let unwarranted fear and hate deter our decision to move forward with this harmless and fun reading event that is held throughout the country. At the end of the day, if your personal agenda does not fit this event, we simply ask that you do not come to the Zoo that day. It would be a shame to never allow your children back to the Zoo because of one simple event. Happy Pride month,\u201d the post added.<\/p>\n<p>The report follows a string of Drag Queen Story Hour events during Pride Month nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/four-colorado-elementary-schools-dei-groups-teamed-up-to-promote-drag-queen-story-hour\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> that four Colorado elementary schools\u2019 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion groups joined forces to promote a drag queen story hour earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>Erie, Colorado\u2019s Meadowlark Elementary School\u2019s Parent, Teacher and Student Association\u00a0committee announced that its DEI committee would team up with the DEI groups at three other elementary schools in Erie to participate in the town\u2019s first Pride celebration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHappy Pride Month! Please join and celebrate with us!!\u201d Meadowlark Elementary\u2019s DEI committee wrote in a June 1 Facebook post, adding that \u201call are welcomed to join in the celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In some cases, public outcry against such events has led to recent cancellations. For example, a mayor in North Carolina announced earlier this month that a proposed \u201cDrag Queen Story Hour\u201d event had been called off.<\/p>\n<p>Apex Mayor\u00a0Jacques Gilbert, a former captain of the\u00a0Apex Police Department, said in a Facebook message that the event was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/mayor-announces-cancelation-of-drag-queen-story-hour-after-community-backlash-ensure-that-all-voices-are-represented\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shut down<\/a> after he relayed feedback from the community to the festival commission hosting the event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven that this part of the event was not originally presented when the event was proposed, I met with representatives from the organizations hosting the event, the Apex Festival Commission, and presented the feedback I have received from citizens,\u201d Gilbert wrote. \u201cToday I was notified that the Apex Festival Commission has taken the feedback into careful consideration and has decided to remove the Drag Queen Story Hour from the event.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt continues to be my goal to ensure that all voices in our community are represented,\u201d the mayor told his constituents, adding that he had \u201creceived a variety of feedback regarding the Drag Queen Story Hour.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A \u201cfamily-friendly\u201d drag event scheduled to take place in Jasper, Indiana, was also recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/indiana-town-cancels-family-friendly-drag-show-after-being-exposed-by-libs-of-tiktok\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">canceled<\/a> after the Twitter account Libs of TikTok included it in the \u201cmega thread\u201d of drag events for kids.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Montana zoo faces backlash after scheduling a \u201cDrag Queen Story Hour\u201d for Pride month. ZooMontana in Billings, Montana, has planned the June 22 event, upsetting some in the local community. \u201cWhy are we putting such a contentious issue right in the heart of that area?\u201d the founder of the Montana Family Rights Alliance, Jenna &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":325,"featured_media":1512626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1512599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/325"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1512599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1512626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1512599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1512599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1512599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}