Two years ago, the community in and around Lake Luzerne was torn apart by a story out. It was a regular read-a-book-to-kids story hour, except the reader was a drag queen. The event actually never even happened, but it created turmoil that forced the library to close for months. We go back to the Lake Luzerne Library two years later and see what's happening. That's today's story of the day.
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First up, two Democratic lawmakers crossed district lines to hold a rally in Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik's district in Plattsburgh on Monday. Vermont Senator Peter Welsh and Hudson Valley Congressman Paul Tonko say the Republicans' budget plan will cut billions of dollars from the popular Medicaid program.
Welch said he crossed Lake Champlain to tell Stefanik's constituents to pressure their representative to vote no. Folks in this community, all our communities, realize this is serious. They can speak to their own representative. And how Elise Stefanik votes is going to affect how Vermonters are able to count on health care. Democrats in Washington have been criticized for not speaking out louder against the Trump agenda, even as they hold little power in Congress.
Tonko said moderates in both parties need to speak out. You see Republicans of the past criticizing their own party here for the silence, for the drastic approach they're taking. the unkindness that's surrounding it all, you know, they're speaking right up. From their own party, criticizing from the sidelines. We need people to speak out against this. Stefanik's office accused Democrats of, quote, fear-mongering and said Republicans want to strengthen Medicaid for eligible citizens.
A new group of locals has been leading the Lake Luzerne Library for the past year. Our David Escobar went there to see how the new guard is rebuilding after the drag queen story hour that wasn't. Walking into the Rockwell Falls Public Library, the first thing you notice is the sunlight pouring through big windows overlooking a rushing river. Elementary school kids are hunched over at computers. A couple of older patrons are curled up on couches with both.
hang out which is nice that's marion allen she became the library's director in 2024 and was asked to do what felt impossible at the time reopen a library that had been closed for five months after the Drag Queen Story Hour controversy. Getting things organized, getting books going again, getting book orders going again. There's a lot of administrative work that really kind of surprised me how much there is.
The library's closure is still a touchy subject, especially for Allen. She's a lifelong local and a former librarian at the elementary school just up the road. The library serves a handful of small Adirondack towns, Day, Stony Creek, Hadley, and Lake Luzerne. Allen says it's the kind of place where everyone knows everyone. If I don't know them, they probably know me. Or they knew my parents, you know, or my older brothers. Or, you know, there's connections.
all over the place. But that sense of tight-knit community unraveled in April 2023. That's when the Rockwell Falls Public Library promoted a Drag Queen Story Hour on Facebook. Supporters saw it as an inclusive, family-friendly event. But online pushback came quickly. and spilled into a normally quiet library board meeting. It was like pitchforks and torches.
That's Jade Eddy. She was at that meeting and remembers the tension. She tried to ease that tension by reaching out to the drag queen Jake Evans, who performs under his drag persona, Scarlett Sagamore. I went to the performer and tried to gather the information so that I could quell the fears that those people had. Eddie found that Evans had picked age-appropriate and kid-friendly books.
The only difference was that he'd be reading those stories while dressed in drag, and that alone triggered protest. Here's tape from that library board meeting in April 2023. being normalized throughout really the country and right here in our own town. Drag Queen's story hours have become more and more common nationwide. Protests against the performances have grown too. Here in Lake Luzerne, the fallout consumed the entire community.
One of the Drag Storytime event's most vocal opponents was Victory Bible Baptist Church pastor Josh Jacquard. It sexualizes children, and it is absolutely wrong. Why are we not having police officers' story out? Why are we not having shop owner story hour? Why are we not having pastor story hour? Why does it have to be transvestite story hour? The word transvestite is considered offensive by many in the LGBTQ community.
Jacquard was elected to the library's board a month later. He declined an interview for this story, but in an email, he said he opposed using public funds for an event he believed pushed an inappropriate message to children. Protests from Jacquard and others led to the drag story hour being postponed and later cancelled. But the after effects lingered. Jade Eddy says it sent homophobic messages to the wider community.
To know that there are community members who don't feel just like welcome and part of the community like everybody else. Just because they love who they love. That experience made people feel unwanted, unsafe. Calfiel says the library incident exposed existing bigotry in the community. They moved to Hadley in 2022 and have seen kids who look different from their classmates face bullying.
not liking stereotypically gendered things or dyeing their hair fun colors. They do get bullied by their peers just for that, regardless of their identity. So, actual... queer youth see that and they're less likely to feel comfortable being out and open and they feel like they're not safe. That summer, some residents tried to carve out safe spaces. Fjell was one of dozens of locals who attended Lake Luzerne's first-ever Pride picnic in June 2023, put on by the Upper Hudson Queer Alliance.
Hadley resident Curtis Jones is the group's co-founder. He says the hate he saw rise out of the Drag Story Hour protests was palpable, but he doesn't think the incident should define his entire community. Not the majority of people that feel this way. The library didn't close because most people in the town hate gay people.
The library closed because a small minority of people chose to make threats against people based on support of trans rights and gay rights. But chaos continued at the Rockwell Falls Public Library. Staff resigned after being harassed by anti-drag queen protesters, and the library's board couldn't agree on new hires. That forced the library to shut its doors in September 2023. Most board members resigned by the following month.
The State Board of Regents stepped in and appointed three new members, including longtime Hadley resident Maggie Hartley. I kind of feel like we were a national story, and the library was closed for five months, which is kind of incomprehensible. Hartley says the library isn't just a place to borrow books.
For many, it's a lifeline, offering internet access, a food pantry, and a space to gather. We don't have a coffee shop. We don't have a lot of community center. We don't have a lot of stuff, but the library is really important. for the kids, for grown-ups, for teens. It's sort of the heart of the community. The library also took preemptive measures to prevent something like this from happening again. The library's previous board passed a resolution against book ban.
Ted Murzak is the current board president. We're in a position to say, hey, you don't like a book that's on the shelves. Don't read it. Don't take it out. But don't deny someone else who may want to read that. the ability to do so. And the board picked Marion Allen to direct the library's reopening effort. A new teen room, homey decor, and inclusive public programs have breathed life back into the once empty building.
The library's team has gone outside its walls to reach out to the community at social and school events around town. It's also hosted Upper Hudson Queer Alliance programs inside the library. Alan says she can't ignore the Drag Queen story hour controversy in the library's rebuilding process, but she hopes it's something people can move past. putting the best foot forward. I really want people to know that they're welcome.
I think people just have to see it. For Alan, that means continuing to make programs welcoming to everyone and making sure a controversy from two years ago doesn't define the town or its library. David Escobar, North Country Public Radio, Lake Luzerne. We have more news all the time on our website, ncpr.org. Music today by Patricia Julian of Burlington and Paul Myers of Colton. I'm David Summerstein, North Country.