After a Republican senator criticized the event, a US Air Force post in Europe canceled a ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ it scheduled for children of military families.
The 30-minute story time was scheduled for June 2 at an on-base library at Ramstein Military Base, the headquarters of the United States Air Forces in Europe and the largest American air base in Germany.
The session will feature a special guest reader, local drag queen Stacey Teed, and celebrate Pride Month, according to a Facebook event that has since been deleted.
‘We’re celebrating Pride Month at the Ramstein Library with Drag Queen Storytime!’ said the post.
‘Join us with special guest reader Stacey Teed! Be sure to wear your brightest and most colorful outfits!’
However, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) condemned the event and wrote to U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on May 27.
The letter read: ‘I urge you to immediately cancel this politically divisive event, and take appropriate disciplinary action against all involved in allowing this gross abuse of taxpayer funding to place children in a sexualized environment.
‘As I hope you can agree, decisions over children and their bodies should be left to moms and dads serving our nation, not mediated through publicly funded propaganda on U.S. Air Force bases.
The last thing parents serving their nation overseas should be worried about, particularly in a theater with heightened geopolitical tensions, is whether their children are being exposed to sexually charged content simply because they visited their local library.’
In response to the backlash, Natalie Ricketts, Supervisor at U.S. Air Force Reserve, created a Change.org petition called ‘Can’t Cancel Pride’, which has received more than 332 signatures to date.
The petition says: ‘It’s story time, not RuPaul’s Drag Race. Stacey Teed isn’t a sexualized name, nor would they wear the same clothes they would for a show.
‘Now more then ever we need to show our support to our enlisted members and spouses in the face of blatant discrimination. Some of the queens are service members.’
Lt. Col. Will Powell, chief of public affairs for the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein, told The Military Times: ‘An advertisement was posted to the base library social media page before the event had completed Ramstein’s established processes for special observance coordination and approval.
‘The advertisement has been removed and the event will not take place.
‘The base’s established processes will ensure all future special observance events are properly reviewed and approved prior to advertisement.
‘Ramstein leaders continue to support LGBTQ+ related events, and coordinators are currently in the process of planning other Pride events for June.’