Homophobic trolls threaten dog shelter over drag queens reading to pups. Yes, really
The drag queen read Walter the Farting Dog to a group of dogs. (Envato / Hard Knocks Rescue & Training/ Facebook)
An Alabama dog shelter has been receiving death threats after holding a drag queen story time for their resident pups.
On 24 September, Hard Knocks Rescue and Training, which cares for “unadoptable” dogs, broadcast a Facebook Live showing drag performer Miss Majesty Divine reading the book Walter the Farting Dog: Banned from the Beach to a group of dogs.
Other than the dogs, there appears to be one child in the room, and several adults.
The heartwarming video shows Miss Majesty Divine alternately cuddling the pooches and telling them about protagonist Walter’s flatulent adventures.
But the video was unearthed by Libs of TikTok, notorious for referring to LGBTQ+ people as “groomers”, which accused Miss Majesty Divine of making “sexual comments to children” at the drag queen story time reading.
It claimed in a Substack post that the drag performer telling a joke to the dogs – “everybody likes a big bone” – was “lewd sexual innuendo” and discussing “penises in front of children”.
Since the publication of the Libs of TikTok post, the Hard Knocks Rescue and Training owners said in a video that they had been receiving violent threats.
“First of all, we’re not backing down on what we do,” they said.
“Our mission is to focus on the outcast dogs, the underdogs, the dogs that nobody wants to work with… The people that we kind of gravitate to and pull into our circle are the people who have always felt pushed out.”
Abuse and death threats
Describing the death threats they have received, the owners said that they would continue to operate as normal, but they had made police and FBI reports.
Giving an example of the type of messages the shelter has been receiving since the drag queen story time event, they shared a screenshot of an email with the subject line: “Burn in Hell.”
“You guys are total f**king scumbags for hosting a drag show story hour for little kids,” the email read.
“You sick f**ks secretly WANT to sexualize little kids because deep down inside you’re twisted and demented pedos who really really want to f**k kids.
“I seriously hope that the next workplace shooting occurs at your organization and snuffs out everyone who approved of this. Maybe then our children will be safe from predators like you.”
The shelter owners explained Miss Majesty Divine was the shelter’s “official” drag queen, and worked with them on fundraising to help the dogs in their care.
They said that they had held drag queen story time events for children before, and used stories which “focus on inclusion, acceptance, being authentic, being comfortable in your own skin”.
Addressing their rock-solid stance on inclusion as a non-profit that relies on donations, they added: “We know this is a risk, but it is the right side of things to be on.”
In the long-term, Hard Knocks Rescue and Training plans to open a facility for their dogs, and to provide housing for LGBTQ+ youth who have been kicked out of home, so that the dogs and young people can “heal together”.
