Rochdale Council “breaches trust” after abruptly postponing Drag Queen Storytime reading event at Rochdale Library.

Drag Queen Story Hour UK expresses disappointment and frustration at the council for postponing the event in Rochdale Library, calling it a breach of trust and contract.

Drag Queen Story Hour UK with Aida H Dee sets to provide family friendly reading sessions across UK local libraries, concentrating on teaching kids about diversity and acceptance. 

Sebastian Samuel, director of Drag Queen Story Hour UK, said: “I have had somebody from Rochdale on the phone before and they said to me ‘We are not going to cancel, we know who you are, we've heard you before, we're not going to cancel’. 

“And of course, what they've gone and done is they sent me an email to say that they were going to postpone, and then within 15 to 30 minutes later, without any response or any correspondence, without any consultation without any discussion regarding this decision, nor regarding any of the problems that have led them up to this decision, they have decided to publicly make this announcement.” 

The event, was one of many in a summer tour across the UK and it was set to run on the 16th of August however, for reasons not officially given, the event’s scheduled date has been changed.  

There were two demonstrations planned for the Rochdale Storytime event, one against it and the other one supporting it, it has yet to be confirmed if this is why the event was postponed. 

Sebastian said that his organization is always prepared to deal with these counter demonstrations, he said: “So this is a list of many different councils and library authorities that are on this tour, and when we realized that there were going to be protesters trying to stop these events, we all said that nobody's going to cancel.  

“We have been a family of library groups and ourselves trying to organize and ensure that these events go ahead. The way Rochdale council decided to email us and then publicly postpone this event in the way that they did, I think is not just insulting, but also cowardly.” 

Previous events run by Drag Queen Story Hour UK have seen a lot of harassment and threats by groups of people, with Aida's address leaked, and an event in Reading needing police assistance. 

However, Rochdale has been the only Library to postpone a session with Drag Queen Story Hour UK in their tour. 

In further response Drag Queen Story Hour UK has published a statement on its socials, claiming a breach of contract was done by the abrupt postponing and that this damages the local families who wanted to attend the event as well as marginalized groups in Rochdale. 

Sebastian states he has tried to get in contact with Rochdale Borough Council multiple times these past two days, he said: “I invite them to reverse this decision, I invite them to also discuss with me the problems that they've got when it comes to safety, and I invite them to also work with me again on how to actually deal with this correctly.  

“But I'm yet to have a phone call or discussion about this whatsoever.  

“In fact, the person who I usually talk to has blocked my number.” 

The organization has asked parents to contact the council to share their opinions and feedback on the situation.

A spokesperson for Rochdale Borough Council, said: “We recognize that it's important that we have a continuous programme of activity to celebrate equality and inclusion and respect for everyone. As a council and a borough there is a strong commitment to support inclusivity and celebrate diversity. 

“It is unfortunate that we’ve had to postpone the drag queen story events scheduled for 16 August. We have been in contact with the performer and will be discussing alternative options with them.” 

Rochdale Borough Council and Drag Queen Story Hour UK have worked together in the past and Sebastian commented he accepts to be welcomed again in the library, but this abrupt action has severely affected their relationship going forward.