CHARDON, Ohio — Crowds of supporters and protesters gathered in Chardon early in the day on Saturday for a day of drag events in the area, all of which went smoothly despite threats and a violent act of vandalism last week, with protesters leaving during an afternoon storm.
The day began in Chardon at Element 41, a restaurant on Main Street. A series of drag queen brunches for adults 18 and older were held inside, during which local protesters lined the street opposite the restaurant. Signs that read "God still loves you" were held up as one protester used a megaphone to convey their opposition across the street.
Not all of the protesters were from the area. A white nationalist group, the Patriot Front, came in with flags and banners to protest the event.
Protesters we spoke to declined to comment other than to say they were following their faith. Supporters also showed up by the dozens, and they said they felt that attending and rallying was something they needed to do.
"There's always the one side or the other side in feeling opposition, but on our side, we're for freedom and liberation and love and equality," said Rev. Michael Anthony Howard. "This is my way to be present and let people know there’s another way of thinking about things."
Howard is a faith leader at Faith in Action in Akron. He and many others from different congregations and religions traveled to Chardon to support the drag brunch and counter the protesters.
The large turnout on both sides, however, took a turn around noon as severe weather rolled into the area. Rain began to fall, thunder rumbled through, and lightning lit the once-sunny sky. Many supporters stayed through the weather, but the protesters one by one left the scene.
Jess Peacock, the pastor of the Community Church of Chesterland, which hosted the "Drag Story Hour" event later in the afternoon, believed that the severe weather would be beneficial for keeping things calm.
"We've said all week long when we were looking at the weather, 'Bad weather works in our favor.' We really don't think that many of these protesters have the courage of their convictions," Peacock said. "They're looking to yell and scream, whatever their agenda is."
Peacock commended both sides, even in opposition, for keeping things peaceful in the morning and early afternoon.
"We had some anxiety about the types of groups that might be coming in to threaten people or to try to stop the proceedings in some way, shape or form. What I saw was like 50-ish people, as far as protesters go, some of them were vocal, some of them were just sort of standing there," Peacock said. "Protest is everyone's right. So what I saw was people enacting their constitutional rights protests, and that's fine, that's the United States."
Those protests and rallies, however, didn't carry over into the afternoon event that was catered to children. The Drag Story Hour, where drag queens in flowing gowns, bows and tiaras read children's books to families inside Peacock's church, seemed the biggest point of contention for protesters.
Peacock and other organizers had planned for opposition, even more so after a violent act of vandalism in response to the planned story time a week prior. A 20-year-old man from Alliance was charged Friday for allegedly using Molotov cocktails to try and burn the church to the ground.
RELATED: Alliance man facing federal charges for firebombing church in Chesterland, authorities say
The church was unoccupied at the time of the attack, and no one was injured, but it caused plenty of concern leading into Saturday's story time. Police recommended all of the drag events for the day be canceled due to threats, and while organizers considered, they decided against it.
"We were always prepared to cancel if we felt there were legitimate threats to people's safety. That's been a part of our congress. We had a meeting yesterday. 'What's our gauge? What's our temperature level before if we need to cancel this?' Peacock said. "If we suspect that there could be danger, we were willing to pull the plug."
After seeing the morning crowd of protesters and supporters remain peaceful and then largely disperse, Peacock and his team felt comfortable moving forward.
Dozens of hired security and on-site police helped prepare the church for the event. Cars entering the parking lot were screened, passengers were identified, bags were sniffed by police K-9s, and metal detecting wands were used to make sure the venue was safe.
The church is in a remote location and lacks sidewalks or parking. After the severe weather passed, protesters or groups of counter-protesters didn't return.
For attendees like Jamie Elberson, the week leading up to the story time she had bought tickets to for her and her son Asher had made her apprehensive. But after thinking about it, she decided they wouldn't miss it.
"I was pretty nervous about going, and I thought about canceling and not coming, but I really wanted to stand up and really be here and show support," Elberson said. "Just felt like for us to not come would be giving in to people saying we should not come, to give into bullies."
Elberson's 8-year-old son Asher was all smiles about the story time.
"I wasn’t sure what to expect until it started and I was like 'I think I’m going to enjoy it," Asher said.
Three drag queens read stories to the children. From "The Good Egg," "Just Add Glitter" and "Red: A Crayon Story," the drag queens showed the children in front of them the picture books and had them interact with the reading to keep them engaged with the books.
The drag events on Saturday were prefaced in violence but ended peacefully. And while the goal of the Drag Story Hour at the Community Church of Chesterland aimed to be an event for children to enjoy, it ended up having deeper meaning for the church.
"God is not hate. God is not judgment. God is not violence, war, you name it. God is love. Inclusivity," Peacock said. "There is an audience in this community that needs us. It's a shame this had to become a social justice issue. But we're not going to back down from that either."
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