A video of a woman angrily confronting staff at a Chaska store over a planned drag story time event has gone viral on TikTok, amassing more than 9 million views so far.
Video confrontation over Chaska drag story time event goes viral
The video shows a woman inside the Little Roo's children's boutique, outraged that a local drag queen is scheduled to lead one of the store's weekly story time events.
July 5, 2023 at 10:58PM
The video shows a woman inside the Little Roo's children's clothing store on Pioneer Trail in Chaska, outraged that a local drag queen, Miz Diagnosis, is scheduled to lead one of the store's weekly summer story time events for children and families.
The woman says she thinks the event is inappropriate and alleges that it's "sexual-based entertainment for children," before leaving.
Saturday's story time at Little Roo's will be the store's first to feature a drag queen.
In past summers, the weekly event has featured women dressed as princesses reading stories aloud. This year, store owner Marissa Held-Nordling wanted to include other readers. Along with Miz Diagnosis, local authors and other community members have been scheduled to lead story time.
One of the store's staff members knows Miz Diagnosis, a Chaska native, and suggested the drag performer host an event, Held-Nordling said.
"I thought she would be a great person to bring in to our story time lineup, and a great way to represent the LGBTQ community in Chaska and in our business," Held-Nordling said.
While a "handful" of people have come to the store to oppose the decision, the store owner said "dozens and dozens" more have come to offer support.
Held-Nordling objected to the accusations of the woman captured on video.
"This story time is no different than any of the other story times that we hold here," she said.
The woman who confronted store staff claimed the story time event would violate a city ordinance, but Chaska Mayor Mark Windschitl contradicted that.
"As far as I know, staff have checked and it's not violating anything," he said.
The TikTok video has nearly 700,000 likes, and more than 30,000 comments from supporters and opponents of the story time event. The event is set for 11 a.m. Saturday.
It will feature children's activities and places where supporters can leave messages, Held-Nordling said.
