Suburban Chicago library cancels drag bingo event ‘due to threats’

The Downers Grove Public Library expresses its disappointment over the cancellation, but says “it is our responsibility to keep you safe”

A public library in suburban Chicago was forced to cancel a drag bingo event scheduled to coincide with National Coming Out Day due to the “severity of the threats made against the library.”

The Downers Grove Public Library cited a responsibility to keep patrons in its decision to cancel the event.

“We are disappointed and saddened by the some of the vitriolic feedback that we received for what was meant to be an evening of fun and celebration of self-identity and self-expression,” the library said in a statement this week announcing the cancellation.

In August, the library announced that its event would feature a performance from drag queen Aurora Divine along with a Bingo competition and a lip sync performance of Katy Perry’s hit song “Firework.” The library made clear that the event would be age appropriete and not sexual in nature.

Library Director Julie Milavec told NBC News said that the event was “provide a window to the world, as well as a mirror to it, creating opportunities for patrons to see the wonderfully diverse community in which we live.”

Plenty of community members, particularly young people, were excited about the opportunity. Interest in registering to attend the event was so high, the library had to create a waitlist for people who could not initally secure their spot.

But a number of community members, including Orland Park mayor and Republican congressional nominee Keith Pekau, worked to turn the event into a high-profile cause for the political right. Mr Pekau called the event “inappropriate” and an “unacceptable use of taxpayer funds” in a statement, and, in the days following its announcement, the library was innundated with messages from residents voicing both their support and opposition to the event.

Awake Illinois, a right wing organisation opposing so-called critical race theory, also organised against the event. Rep Sean Casten, the incumbent Democrat defending his seat against Mr Pekau this November, blamed both their efforts and his opponent’s for the “incredibly dishearten[ing]” cancellation.

“Let’s be clear. This event was canceled because, after my Republican opponent and his far-right allies at Awake Illinois publicly issued a call-to-action to their supporters, the library received severe threats that endangered our community,” Mr Casten said in a statement.

A library spokesperson told NBC News that a donor had volunteered to cover the entire cost of the event, for which Aurora Divine, the performer, was slated to be paid just $125.

This event is not the first drag event to be cancelled in the US this year due to threats. Similar events have been cancelled or disrupted in California, Texas, Idaho, and beyond as Republican-led states have passed a bevy of laws targeting transgender individuals, abortion, and education on the topics of race and gender this year.

Ms Milavec declined to tell NBC News what the exact nature of the threats that forced the library to cancel were, though she did confirm that authorities are investigating them. The library said that it is “determined to find additional ways to support” the young people who were forced to miss the event in “safe, fun, and inclusive representation throughout the library.”