Hastings District Council has cancelled its planned Rainbow Storytime event at the city's library after councillors and staff received "a large number" of threatening and intimidating messages. Photo: Google Maps
Hastings District Council has cancelled its upcoming Rainbow Storytime event due to safety concerns, after councillors and staff received "a large number" of threatening and intimidating messages.
The event, hosted by drag performers Erika and CoCo Flash, was due to take place at the city's library on Wednesday - but protests planned by Destiny Church left the council fearing it could not keep people safe.
The decision follows vandalism of a rainbow pedestrian crossing in Gisborne on Monday night, and a protest at the Gisborne library's Rainbow Storytime event on Tuesday afternoon, both of which involved Destiny Church members.
A protest was also planned for the Hastings event, the council said.
"Hastings councillors, library staff and council customer service have received a large number of messages falsely accusing the events of being a platform for sexual grooming of young people, and this misinformation has also spread to other members of the community," it said.
"As time has gone on these messages have in some instances been intimidating and threatening, including death threats to the performers."
Police were present at a stand-off between Destiny Church protesters and counter protesters supporting the rainbow community at the Gisborne library after drag queen performers Erika and CoCo Flash planned to host an event there. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said she was deeply disappointed the council had to make the call to cancel the event.
"We had every intention of standing up to this intimidation and going ahead, but unfortunately the potential for there to be possibly aggressive protests outside the library is something we can't subject our children and the rest of the community to," she said.
"We have a responsibility to keep people safe at our facilities, and the escalation of hateful and bigoted rhetoric around this event, coupled with the huge costs and the strain on resources to bring in security to ensure people's safety, means we are in a position this year that we can't guarantee attendees', staff and the performers' safety."
The decision was "hard to stomach", councillor Wendy Schollum added.
"In Heretaunga Hastings we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, inclusive community where everyone, no matter their lifestyle or life choices can feel safe and able to express their individuality without fear," she said.
"To have a small segment of our community twist the intention of this event to peddle another agenda and shut it down is very hard to stomach, and I wish to express my sympathy to our Rainbow community and supporters, and the performers, that we have been forced into this position."
The council said it had run Rainbow Storytime events in 2020 and 2022 with no issues.