There was a significant disturbance outside of Old Nick’s Pub in Eugene, Oregon yesterday. The pub had scheduled a “drag queen story hour” for children (in a bar where alcohol is served) and the “entertainment” on the bill planned to include an eleven-year-old child dressed in drag as one of the performers. Word of the planned event broke out on news stations and social media, however, and a protest against the sexualization of children in this fashion was quickly organized. That spurred a separate group of people to form their own counterprotest in support of the activity. As usual, that set up a confrontation that quickly escalated. Protesters, some of them armed, hurled rocks and smoke bombs at each other from opposite sides of the street. The show went on inside as scheduled, but the child performer was removed from the lineup. (Associated Press)

Protesters, some of them armed, threw rocks and smoke grenades at each other outside a drag queen story time event at an Oregon pub, but the weekend show that was to have featured a child performer went on as planned.

The 11-year-old did not take part as scheduled but was in the audience of about 50 people as some 200 demonstrators and counterdemonstrators — some of them armed — faced off outside the Oregon pub where Sunday’s story time was held.

Authorities said people in the crowd of about 200 protesters on both sides briefly “lobbed projectiles” at each other, prompting authorities to shut down the street. Some in the crowd had semi-automatic rifles, police said. The projectiles were rocks and some smoke bombs, the Register Guard reported.

One person out on the street reportedly suffered an unspecified injury and was taken to a local hospital, but no other physical violence was noted. The protesters opposed to the show described the show participants as monsters and asked why this was being done to children. The counterprotesters responded with chants claiming that “this is what protecting children looks like.”

Perhaps this is yet another sign of me growing old, but I still find myself wondering when this sort of thing became “okay” and was established as the “new normal.” Instead of taking children out to the park on a Sunday afternoon to play on the swings, you take them to a gay bar to watch grown men dressed as women gyrating in a sexual fashion? And you enlist an elementary school-aged child as a performer in the show?

Prepubescent or barely-pubescent children have a tough enough time dealing with all of the changes they are going through and many parents struggle with that period of growth as well. Kids in that age group simply are not prepared to process complex issues of adult sexuality and it’s the place of the parents or guardians to guide them through the process.

What’s actually going on with these Drag Queen Story Hour programs should be fairly obvious. They are working to confuse children about gender roles and sexuality when they are still highly impressionable. This sort of indoctrination is not helpful. I will grant you that this example in Eugene, Oregon didn’t take place at a school so it wasn’t mandatory. Presumably, all of the children in attendance were there with their parents or guardians, so the decision has to be left up to them in the end. But you’re not being unreasonable if you question just what sort of an upbringing these children are receiving if these are the types of decisions their parents are making.

To be clear, as with nearly all aspects of the ongoing gender wars, what adults choose to wear is up to them. And I don’t care whether you happen to be gay or straight. Go out and live life as you choose as long as you respect the rights of others to do the same. But we’re talking about children here. Children are unable to legally provide informed consent for virtually anything, as has long been understood under American laws. This is particularly true when it comes to any sort of sexualized activity. The job of the parents is to protect and guide their kids, not indoctrinate them. This entire trend is simply beyond disturbing.