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Claiming it makes Christians "second-class citizens," anti-LGBTQ groups are suing in federal court to stop drag queens from reading to children at a local library.
In an attempt to stop a drag queen story hour event at Lafayette Public Library in Louisiana, two antigay Christian groups have filed suit against the town of Lafayette, the governor of Louisiana, and the library.
Chris Sevier, who with others filed suit on behalf of Warriors for Christ and Special Forces of Liberty, had previously sued five states claiming he had married his computer in New Mexico and they should recognize the union, reports local TV station KATC. Those suits were a stunt to challenge marriage equality. He has filed several other bizarre, unsuccessful suits -- against Apple, claiming that an erroneous URL caused him to develop a pornography addiction, and against members of Congress who displayed Pride flags.
The story hour, scheduled for October 6, will feature male University of Louisiana-Lafayette students from the queer men's Delta Lambda Phi fraternity dressed in drag reading to children aged 3 to 6. Through sharing stories vetted by Lafayette librarians, the goal is to build bridges between the LGBTQ community and others by teaching kids the value of accepting individuality.
When news broke that drag queens were coming to the local library, Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux announced he would do everything in his power to cancel it. But the library has stood by its decision to host the event.
"All story programs for this age group are designed for families to attend together and involve books, songs and craft activities that encourage interaction among the children," library officials said in a statement. "The picture books that are read are content- and age-appropriate. The Drag Queen Story Time will share stories of individuality, openness and acceptance with families seeking an opportunity to show their children that every person is unique and should be treated with equal respect."
The lawsuit claims that LGBTQ messaging is part of a religion the plaintiffs call "secular humanism." It also describes the story hour as featuring "self-identified transgenders exploiting the state's endorsement of their religious ideology in an government endorsed effort to brainwash and indoctrinate minors to ... religious worldviews on sex, faith, truth, gender, morality, and marriage in a manner that excessively entangles the government with the religion of postmodern-western-individualistic-moral relativism."
The suit also asserts that story time "endorses transgenderism" and therefore "relegates Christians to second-class citizens."
Among their 29 requests, Sevier and the others demand that the court prevent the story hour from taking place and the city from enacting and "pro-gay" measures, which they say will "lead to Christian persecution." The suit asks the court to declare Pride flags the "paramount religious symbol of the LGBTQ church." In addition, it requests that the court rule that "all parody marriages are all equally not part of American heritage and tradition," a disparaging reference to same-sex marriages.
In the original petition, Sevier incorrectly named the mayor of Lafayette, Ind., instead of Lafayette, La. He told KATC he filed the correct paperwork Wednesday.
The story hour is still on; in its meeting Tuesday, the Lafayette City-Parish Council avoided taking a position on whether it should be held , with six of nine council members abstaining from voting on a resolution that would condemn the event, The Acadiana Advocate reports.
