The last week on the peninsula has been filled with turmoil as the community reeled over the local LGBTQ group, Soldotna Pride’s, plan to host a “Drag Story Hour” at the Soldotna Public Library. Camps quickly formed and took to social media to express either their support of, or displeasure with the planned event, which was ultimately cancelled due to the public backlash. The library was not the only business listed, however, and the owner of “The Goods Sustainable Grocery,” Willow King, sought to clarify her business’s involvement with a “Drag Trivia” happening the same day.
According to King, she was approached by Soldotna Pride and asked if she would be willing to host a trivia event at The Goods. She agreed, but says she was not briefed on the full extent of what was planned. King, who describes her business as a safe and inclusive space, left for a trip out of state shortly after agreeing to host the trivia time, and was shocked by what confronted her when she returned.
“Soldotna Pride approached me to host a trivia event and I said, of course you can do that,” King told KSRM’s Bob Bird during his show Talk on The Kenai. “[T]he first flyer that came out was a shock to me as well as many other community members.”
Concerns were raised over the concept of a drag story hour, which has become something of a nationally contentious trend, but also zeroed in on one of the drag performers listed on the “Happy New Queer” event’s original poster, a man who performs under the moniker “Ivanna Kischacok.” This name, along with one other, was removed from the poster, but by that time media outlets around the state, as well as members of the community, had gotten ahold of the original poster and it quickly began circulating on social media. This led to the backlash and ultimate cancellation of the story hour, but not the trivia at The Goods or Karaoke at The Bow Bar in Kenai. As a result, King found her business at the center of community ire.
With that happening, King decided to offer clarity to the public and called into Talk on The Kenai. She began by explaining the lack of information she was provided about the nature of the event planned at The Goods, and proceeded to set the record straight on what would be happening at her grocery store.
“There will be no drag performances at trivia. It is a trivia night. It’s for learning and growing together,” King said. “There will be members of the drag community there–they are hosting it along with Soldotna Pride. I have all of the questions and have approved all of them. They are all family friendly. There will be no inappropriate information being shared through the form of trivia.”
King a confided that she has heard there are protests planned for her store at the time of the trivia event, and says she plans “to be fully present to make sure everyone feels as comfortable as they can.”
More than any business or group, though, Soldotna Pride has found itself at the center of this controversy, having planned and promoted the events. One of its leaders, Joe Spady, said he believed the first promotional poster put out by the group, which included “Ivanna Kischacok,” was a poor decision. In speaking of the negative response to his groups’ planned events, he said he was surprised by how militant some people became, especially on social media.
“There was so much discussion of war, and I think that was the scariest thing, the amount of people that directly compared what they felt this to be as specifically a war,” Spady said on a call with KSRM.
Spady explained that the event was cancelled due to safety concerns following the negative responses online. “The fact that anyone who’s queer is constantly being called a predator means that I am in danger, as well as any of these kids who identify as queer.”
When asked if the planned story hour was an intentional attempt to mimic drag story hours which have been popping up around the country, often to similar public responses, Spady said it was not, and added he believes part of the problem is what he describes as ignorance related to the term “drag.” “I think the only reason drag story hours have become divisive is due purely to [the] ignorance of people not understanding what the word drag means. For some reason, ignorant people like to sexualize that word in the same way that someone might sexualize comedy or fashion.”
As for Willow King, she has not cancelled the trivia event on Saturday night, but wanted to make it clear that she will be present and monitoring to ensure its family friendliness, adding that she takes the conduct of people using her space very seriously. “I will be a monitor. I am always a monitor. I don’t deal well with people who are not OK, who did not behave themselves in my space.”
The events at The Goods and The Bow Bar are scheduled to take place this Saturday.
