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ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) - Protesters and supporters of Drag Queen Story Hour have gathered at a library in northern Illinois as the city of Rockford marks LGBTQ Pride Month for the first time.
The Rockford Register Star reports that over 100 protesters stood outside Rockford Public Library's East Branch Saturday, reciting prayers and carrying protest signs.
A transgender woman from Madison, Wisconsin, Cass Downing, read to a crowd inside wearing a floor-length dress. One book Downing read from was Todd Parr's "It's OK to be Different."
One protester, Stephanie Loehr, said the event "teaches children to ignore what's natural."
Rockford Public Library Executive Director Lynn Stainbrook defended it, saying children are "going to work side-by-side" with people from the LGBTQ community" and so "need to learn tolerance and acceptance at a very early age."