After protests, an estimated 500 attend East Bay library's 'Drag Queen Story Hour'

Despite protests, Drag Queen Story Hour was a big hit in Brentwood on Monday night. Despite protests, Drag Queen Story Hour was a big hit in Brentwood on Monday night. Photo: Courtesy Melissa Van Ruiten Photography Photo: Courtesy Melissa Van Ruiten Photography Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close After protests, an estimated 500 attend East Bay library's 'Drag Queen Story Hour' 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

There were some in Brentwood who felt that a literary event at the Brentwood Community Center on Monday night was inappropriate for kids. Why? The public reading in Contra Costa County featured a drag queen reading children's books to, well, children.

But the 25 or so people who showed up to protest mostly peacefully outside the venue were well outnumbered by the 500 people Contra Costa County Libraries estimated to have attended the event. It was more people than the organization expected to attend to hear Bella Aldama read to young guests, a spokeswoman for the group told SFGATE, but it was nevertheless "a rousing success."

"The Contra Costa County Library is proud of the event," spokeswoman Brooke Converse said. "Our mission is about bringing people and ideas together. We want to be representative and inclusive of everyone in our very diverse county and community."

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Not everyone in the community was onboard with Story Hour. When East County Today, a local East Bay site, initially posted news of the event, they fielded hundreds of Facebook comments from users, ranging from angry to excited.

Aldama, as KTVU reported at the time, said that facing such a reaction ahead of what would be her third story time reading was "very surprising."

"I never received this response in the other events,'' she said to KTVU. "I have never seen so many negative comments in one day."

Drag Queen Story Hour originated at the San Francisco Public Library, and has inspired similar events around California and the country. Locally, similar readings have already taken place in El Cerrito and Concord. It's unclear why this particular gathering incited such strong responses across the spectrum.

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As Converse said before Monday's event, most of the feedback had been positive.

"The biggest surprise has been how much positive feedback we've received," she said. "For every negative comment, there have been multiple comments in support."

The negative comments, however, were enough to prompt Brentwood police to staff the reading with six uniformed officers. But as it turned out, the event ran perfectly smoothly. Aldama, for her part, brushed off the controversy in a statement to East County Today at the event.

"There is nothing wrong with reading a children's book that display diversity and different gender identities," Aldama said. "We are all different, and everyone deserves respect and love. We are not trying to teach or brainwash anybody. Drag is just a form of gender expression."

Converse tells SFGATE that there's not another date in the works just yet for the next Drag Queen Story Time as branches plan their own schedules, but some of the other locations have "expressed an interest in hosting a similar program."

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

