Here's how one Montana bookstore countered Oath Keeper threats against a drag queen story hour event

As Daily Kos continues to highlight, Republicans and far-right conservatives are stomping down hard on book access in public schools and libraries as we approach midterm elections. By and large, targeted books are written by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ folks, and themes often include sexuality, sexual abuse, and racism. Anti-book efforts have spread at school board meetings across the country, thanks in part to hyper-conservative groups like Moms for Liberty stoking hysteria. 

In addition to critical race theory (CRT) fearmongering, conservatives have started to attack LGBTQ+ books by framing them as inherently “inappropriate” or “obscene.” This framing relies on old anti-queer hate speech that positions queerness as innately predatory and sexual, and therefore inappropriate for young people—just think about how often we’re hearing conservatives toss out words like “grooming” nowadays. 

With all of this in mind, we’ve seen some seriously scary stuff surrounding queer books and even queer-friendly and inclusive book events, like librarians getting threats over hosting drag queen story hours or restaurants hosting family-friendly drag brunches. As reported by The Montana Free Press, however, we have some hope and inspiration coming out of an independent, LGBTQ+ owned bookstore in Helena, Montana, which flatly refused to cancel its drag queen story hour after receiving backlash and calls for boycotts.

RELATED: Thousands of students walk out of school to protest Republican governor's anti-queer agenda