Kirk Cameron says men 'pretending to be women' protested his children's book reading, progressive pastor describes Christian-themed event as 'scarier than I had even imagined'

About 500 people attended Kirk Cameron's book-reading event for children in Fayetteville, Alabama. While most in attendance were parents, grandparents, and children, there were also drag queens protesting a children's book that fosters Christian and conservative values.

Cameron is currently on a national library tour where he reads his Christian-themed children's book "As You Grow" – which teaches "Biblical truths of the Fruit of the Spirit." The book's publisher, Brave Books, organized the "Freedom Island Book" tour as a wholesome alternative to drag queen story hour events and to "stand up for truth and Biblical values."

Brave Books said in December that more than 50 libraries rejected proposals for Cameron to do book readings despite the same libraries sponsoring drag queen story hours.

On Friday, Cameron did a book reading at the Fayetteville Public Library.

An overwhelming majority of attendees were supportive of Cameron and his book, like Mandy Brooks.

"We love Christ. We love Jesus and we just wanted to come help promote this. We love these Brave Books and we just love our country. So, we just wanted to come here and be part of what he’s doing," Brooks told KFSM-TV.

There were also protesters, including pastor Clint Schneckloth of the progressive Good Shepherd Lutheran Church that practices "full inclusion of the LGBTQ community in the life of the church" and defends specific communities, such as "black lives matter, the transgender network, Latinx, refugees, immigrants."

Schneckloth described the event as "overwhelming and far weirder and scarier than I had even imagined it would be." He claimed that the book reading was "indoctrination" and "propaganda." The progressive pastor held up a sign that read: "Is cashing in on 'Christian' hate a fruit of the spirit?"

"They had the group sing the national anthem and say the pledge and the loudest applause throughout the event was for nationalist/patriotic stuff even more than the Christian crap," Schneckloth wrote on Facebook.

Also protesting the children's event was the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence of the Arkansas Chapter of Hillbilly Harlots – a "group of queer nuns with a mission to spread love, light, and joy through education, awareness, and support for the LGBTQ community."

A member of the drag queen group was accused of stepping on a "poor, tiny white girl" and hitting her with a cane.

The Post Millennial reported, "Drag queen Patty Johnson was there as well, saying that Cameron reading to kids was 'what indoctrinating looks like,' and mocking the kids as 'a bunch of home-schooled children being sold a 'freedom' line of baloney when they are actually saying vote for more of your freedoms to be taken away because, communism and cancel culture are SO bad… so come Buy Our Books, capitalism is good of course!'"

Cameron labeled the disruptors as a "small group of protesters, which included some grown men wearing silly makeup, dressed in skirts and heels, pretending to be women."

Brave Books chief of staff Zac Bell said, "In coming to Fayetteville, Arkansas we expected to get a ton of supportive Christian and conservative families to show up. What we did not expect was for a group of drag queens and activists to attend and walk up and down the event giving the children in attendance the creeps."

Fellow Brave Books author Chaya Raichik – who runs the @LibsOfTikTok account – was forced to cancel her book reading event in New York City due to safety concerns.

"We have received threats of potentially inappropriate and unsafe behavior at the NYC story hour with Chaya Raichik on Sunday," Brave Books announced on Friday.

Kirk Cameron's Fayetteville Library storytime draws some oppositionwww.youtube.com

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