A bad decision by Rotorua

The Herald reports:

Rotorua Library’s Rainbow Storytime event has been cancelled due to security concerns amid “hostile dialogue” and “rapid spread of misinformation”, the council says.

It comes after Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki last week pledged to shut down the event prompting calls for a counter-protest to protect attendees. Two Rotorua Lakes Council elected members clashed over differing views of the event.

The free event planned for tomorrow would have seen Taranaki drag queen entertainers Coco (Sunita Torrance) and Erika Flash (Daniel Lockett) reading children books such as Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae.

The council released a statement this afternoon advising the event will no longer be held.

This is the wrong call. This has deprived the parents who want their kids to be able to attend, to do so. It is forcing the views of some on others. Those who don’t want their kids to attend, don’t have to.

Those who think the event is inappropriate have the right to protest it. But there is no right to shut an event down. And the Council’s job is to provide security if needed, not to allow the threat of protest to stop an event.

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