Cuyahoga Council donates $35,000 to save Drag Story Hour at Near West Theater

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cuyahoga County Council members approved a one-time $35,000 stimulus package to improve the safety and security of the Near West Theater, Inc., so it can continue to host Drag Story Hour and other LGBTQ events that have been postponed since the bomb blast. threat earlier in the year.

The incident occurred on March 9, approximately 90 minutes before a scheduled Drag Story Hour. An anonymous sender claimed to have placed bombs around the Detroit Avenue theater in the Gordon Square arts district, as well as in the personal residences of eight staff members, including executive director Michael Obertacz.

The subject line was “We're going to kill you,” Obertacz told the council during a committee meeting in May where funding was discussed.

Later, in a call with Shaker Heights police as they checked his property, “I heard my wife and kids screaming in a car in front of our house,” he said. stifling.

No bomb was found, but Obertacz suspended story time to assess the theater's “vulnerabilities.” This resulted in approximately $85,000 in recommended safety and security improvements, some of which have already been completed with $60,000 in funding from the George Gund and Cleveland foundations. These changes included upgrading security cameras and monitors, replacing entrance doors and installing more lighting around the plaza.

But the theater was still about $15,000 short of completing its security plan. It must install bollards to prevent vehicles from driving through the square, add additional lighting and increase the number of security guards, among other improvements, Obertacz said, before it can resume Drag Story Hour later this summer.

He asked Councilman Martin J. Sweeney, in whose district the theater is located, to donate $10,000 to the cause, but after hearing the story, council members Cheryl Stephens, Patrick Kelly, Sunny Simon and Pernel Jones, Jr. also contributed stimulus of their own. funds, bringing the council's total support to $35,000. (In 2022, each of the 11 council members received $6 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars to distribute within their district as they see fit.)

The funding was officially approved on June 4, during Pride Month.

“I know the title Drag Story Hour is now a politically loaded term,” Obertacz said. “We don’t do grooming. We don't harm children. We create safe spaces for little children, who are discovering their identities, and for those parents who may not know what to do, so that they know they are not alone.

Near West Theater is Cleveland's largest community theater. It hosts shows and live events for “pay what you choose” ticketing, and hosts other free programs including “RISE!” after-school program for students interested in theater.

In 2018, the theater partnered with the LGBT Center to host an annual Queer Prom that hosts 300 Ohio teens each June. In 2019, Obertacz says the theater was also the first in Ohio to offer Drag Story Hour, during which drag queens read to youngsters ages 3 to 8, then provide free copies of the books to families, to encourage discussions at home about diversity and inclusion. , gender stereotypes and other LGBTQ issues.

Before the threat, the theater held at least one story hour each quarter, as well as a holiday show, attracting more than 100 audience members, according to Obertacz.

The Near West Theater program is not the first to be threatened, however. Such events have sparked controversy across the country in recent years, sparking protests from white supremacist groups.

Last year, two people were arrested after white supremacists and neo-Nazis protested the Rock 'n' Roll Humanist Drag Queen story hour in Wadsworth. A few weeks later, an Alliance member threw a firebomb at a Geauga County church that had hosted a drag queen brunch and story hour. He was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Such programs are always under attack.

A bill currently before the Ohio House would make it criminal for drag queens to perform in front of children. Its sponsors say children should not be exposed to story times, Pride celebrations or other events featuring drag queens. Violators could be charged with first-degree misdemeanor or fourth- or fifth-degree felonies, depending on the circumstances of the crime.

“It is clear that we are in a different world than we were just a few years ago,” Obertacz wrote in his funding request to the Council. He predicted 2024 would be even worse amid a “divisive and toxic election year.”

It is therefore his responsibility, he said, to protect the artists, staff and participation of theaters, about 50% of whom identify as LGBTQ.

The theater “wants to find a path forward, without fear, to continue our social justice and activism work while ensuring the safety and security of our team, participants and community,” Obertacz said.