February 12, 2023
Pocatello—On Saturday, for the second month in a row, Reading Time with the Queens presented their monthly program to a larger-than-usual crowd at Marshall Public Library. This month, though, no children were present. Instead, a group of parents, grandparents, and young adults from area churches filled the room to capacity and quietly read Scriptures, in a non-confrontational protest of the drag queens’ program.
Some local children were brought to the program, but could not attend due to lack of space in the library’s community room.
Pastor Don Whitecar, of Mountain Valley Baptist Church, explained his church’s involvement in the protest by saying, “We’re not here to stir up trouble—that’s not what we’re doing. But [the drag queens] crossed into something vastly immoral, and to sit idly by isn’t really Biblical. We care enough about our community to know that this is very wrong, and we’re going to fight it.”
While most audience members were from Pocatello, a few were visitors from other parts of East Idaho. Idaho GOP Secretary and State Freedom Caucus Director Maria Nate, of Rexburg, attended with her husband, former Representative Ron Nate. Mrs. Nate said about the event, “Today was a victory for concerned Christians in the battle for our children’s souls. There will be many more battles and we will need many more Christians to engage. It was great to unite with several churches in this effort to fend off the demons trying to steal our children’s innocence. Thank you to David Worley and MassResistance for their vigilance.”
David Worley, who is the Idaho Republican Party’s District 29 Chairman, praised local churches for uniting in defense of children. He said, “It was great to see Christians of various faith traditions standing together. Members of the LDS Church and at least three other churches were present. It shows that you don’t need to agree on every point of doctrine to be united in protecting children from sexual immorality.” Further, he believes these types of events have no place in the public library. “No public institution,” he said, “should be used to promote sexual deviancy and immorality. The innocence of children is sacred and should be protected in our community.”
On Saturday evening, Reading Time with the Queens apologized via social media to those families who “were asked to leave due to us having gone over fire code capacity,” and requested that parents with children be given priority at future Reading Times.
