Neo Nazis Disrupt Drag Queen Story Hour In Boston — Again

BOSTON, MA — A Boston drag performer was forced to cancel a story reading for children Sunday after a neo-Nazi group showed up to disrupt the event — the latest in a series of demonstrations by similar groups in the area.

Performer Patty Bourrée said Sunday's event at the Seaport wasn't safe with the group National Socialist Club 131, also known as NSC-131, looming outside.

"I really hate that I cancelled a story hour today because two protest groups were present, but I can’t put myself (and the kids!) in a potentially violent situation, especially when I don’t trust that [Boston police] will protect me in a worst case scenario," Bourrée said in a Sunday tweet.

A photo shared by the group Waltham's Night Watch, which monitors hate activity in Massachusetts, showed masked NSC-131 members lined up outside The Paseo building with Boston police blocking the entrance.

No one was arrested during Sunday's incident, but police have made arrests are other recent hate incidents revolving around drag queen story readings.

Boston police arrested NSC-131 member Chris Hood, of Pepperell, after an incident outside a story reading in Jamaica Plain in late July. The local NSC-131 members also attracted attention for appearing at the March St. Patrick's Day parade in South Boston holding a banner that read "Keep Boston Irish."

Patriot Front, a white supremacist group, raised alarms on July 4 when its members marched through downtown Boston holding American flags and wearing white face coverings. Members of Patriot Front were arrested while traveling to disrupt an LGBTQ pride event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in June. The Boston demonstration caught local authorities by surprise.

Drag queen story readings have long been targeted by hate groups in the U.S. In July, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern participated in a reading in Worcester, attracting hateful comments on social media.

"The hateful and dangerous rhetoric from those who think they’re protecting children has actually done the opposite," McGovern said.

Following the July 23 incident in Jamaica Plain, Bourrée appeared at a rally protesting neo-Nazi demonstrations. Bourrée first started doing drag after moving to Boston, and found a supportive community that gives LQBTQ performers the "opportunity to nurture joy in ourselves."

"The idea that drag is perverted or malicious is not threatening to me because I know the ignorance and hate that guide those beliefs have nothing to do with me and the thousands of passionate drag artists in this country who spread love and happiness," Bourrée said in a video of the July 30 rally.