POCATELLO — If you were to ask the woman who organized over two dozen local residents to counter-protest against those opposed to a drag queen reading program at the Marshall Public Library, she’d tell you “love always wins.”

And it surely won on Saturday morning at the library.

After petitions and protests against the voluntary Reading Time with the Queens program were announced earlier this month, Saturday morning’s drag queen storytime event was not only the most successful to date, with more than 150 people attending, but also took place without a single person or group showing up to voice opposition.

“I like to believe that we scared all the naysayers off,” said Linda Andrew, a Boise woman who is also known as “Bug Minola” and is responsible for organizing a Parasol Patrol chapter in Pocatello in support of the drag queen storytime program.

Over 20 members of the Gate City’s new Parasol Patrol wearing bright colors and carrying rainbow umbrellas lined the walkway to the Marshall library on Saturday morning to defend Reading Time with the Queens from opponents of the program who ended up being no-shows.

“Love always wins. These people showed up because they wanted to share love, show love and be an example of how powerful love really is,” Andrew said about the record turnout for Saturday morning’s drag queen storytime event.

Andrew said she caught wind of a planned protest against the Reading Time with the Queens program via a Facebook post from a group outside of Idaho that was trying to raise money to send people from out of state to show up at the Marshall library on Saturday morning to oppose the event.

So Andrew reached out to the national Parasol Patrol organization to see what could be done to defend Reading Time with the Queens. She decided her best course of action was to start a Parasol Patrol chapter here in Pocatello.

Parasol Patrol, which focuses on shielding kids from abusive protesters by using colorful umbrellas, is part of the Red Light Resources International non-profit organization, which aims to prevent human trafficking. Up until Saturday, Parasol Patrol had never been out in force during an event in Idaho, Andrew said.

“It actually came together quite nicely,” she said about the Pocatello Parasol Patrol chapter’s effort on Saturday morning at the Marshall library. “I think in total we had over 25 (local Parasol Patrol members) show up, which was much more than I expected for our first event on such short notice.”

Andrew wasn’t the only person who was pleasantly surprised by Saturday morning’s outcome.

Reading Time with the Queens founder Joseph Crupper, a 24-year-old Pocatello resident who is also known by his alter ego “Cali Je,” was somewhat apprehensive before Saturday morning’s event, not knowing what to expect after the program had garnered so much attention in previous weeks.

“Saturday was more than successful in my opinion,” Crupper said. “I was unsure as to what to expect when I was walking up to the library, but I was so glad to see how many kind people showed up. After hosting two separate reading hours on Saturday morning, we still had people wanting to participate.”

Reading Time with the Queens for the first time ever held a second session on Saturday morning because so many people showed up at the library and the meeting room where the program is held can only fit 75 people.

“It could not have gone any better,” Crupper said. “It was amazing that our community showed up and was so committed to making sure this time was safe for the kids. What’s cool is there were no protesters, and because of all of the people outside with umbrellas it was almost like the entire experience started outside before attendees even made it inside the library.”

In fact, so many people attended Saturday’s event that Crupper is considering making two one-hour reading sessions the norm for the monthly Reading Time with the Queens program at the library.

Crupper started Reading Time with the Queens at the Marshall library in 2017, hosting monthly story hours from June through September, until he moved away from the Pocatello area. He started the program back up in July of 2019 when he returned to the Gate City.

The program involves Crupper and other drag queens reading books, singing songs and making crafts with Gate City area children. Saturday’s event, held in conjunction with Friday’s Valentines Day celebration, included Crupper reading “Valensteins” by Ethan Long and “Love Monster” by Rachel Bright while dressed as a monster reminiscent of the character James P. “Sulley” Sullivan from Disney and Pixar’s “Monster’s Inc.” — only Crupper’s version was much more pink.

Reading Time with the Queens became controversial last month when some individuals saw posters promoting the program in Pocatello and began to raise concerns. Many of the opponents said they believe the program was created to push a political agenda upon the children in attendance.

Crupper said the program he founded is simply about reading to kids.

“It really starts with what you consider to be political,” Crupper added. “The simple notion of drag queens and drag artists being present in everyday life is noteworthy and we have learned that some people consider that political. But in reality, I have the right to exist in everyday life. People that are gay and trans have that right as well. So for those that think it’s political for us to exist in everyday life, it’s not us that have made it that way. We are just trying to exist and be ourselves.”

Crupper continued, “That’s not to say that I am a pink monster everyday but this whole business about who can exist at a library or a public space, I think this is a thinly-veiled argument against queer people participating in daily life and that type of conversation is not something addressed at all during our reading time. That’s not at all our focus. Our focus is to encourage children to read, to feel comfortable in their own skin and to be nice and kind to others.”