NYC Councilwoman Says Her Office Was Threatened by ‘Leftist Hate Mob’

People walk along the stairs of the New York Public Library on July 6, 2021 in Manhattan in New York City. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

A New York City councilwoman has said her Queens office requires police protection from “the leftist hate mob” after she spoke out against adult drag performers reading books to children in public schools as “grooming.”

Vickie Paladino, who represents Queens’ district 19, spoke out against the program after the New York Post reported that the program had been lavished by the city and state with more than $200,000 for appearances in public schools in the city since 2018.

Facing backlash after the remarks, Paladino on Friday stood firm in her resolve, saying it’s not “hate speech” to oppose drag queens in schools. She took to Twitter to say her office requires a police detail after receiving threats.

“As my progressive council colleagues and their radical allies play victim and pretend that speaking against drag queens in elementary schools put them in ‘danger,' back in the real world my office now requires a police detail due to threats of violence from the leftist hate mob,” she wrote on Twitter.

“It’s not ‘hate speech’ to say drag queens don’t belong in schools. I make zero apologies for that. Protecting children is my priority. Period. This is what I was elected for. And I will continue to be the most transparent, effective council member this district has ever had.”

The Epoch Times reached out to NYPD for comment.

Paladino had decried the taxpayer money being spent on a program that utilizes drag performers, typically known for lewd and adult performances, to read to children.

“This is unacceptable and grotesque, and follows a deeply disturbing national pattern. I was elected to hold the line on major issues like this,” she wrote on Twitter on June 14.

“Progressives may have no problem with child grooming and sexualization, but I do,” she added. “This will not happen on my watch. Kids deserve a quality education free from political manipulation and sexual content. And that’s what the kids in District 19 will get.”

Paladino said “nearly all” of the schools in her district said they wouldn’t bring the program to their schools after she threatened to cut funding for “repairs, upgrades, and new programs.”

Paladino’s stance was quickly attacked by her progressive colleagues and LGBT groups and supporters, including NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who defended the program.

The City Council’s LGBT caucus has called for Paladino to be removed from her committee roles and that she be formally censured.

Since the beginning of the year, the organization Drag Story Hour NYC, formerly known as Drag Queen Story Hour NYC, has organized 49 appearances in 34 elementary, middle, and high schools across the city.

It has raked in tens of thousands of dollars in public funds including $46,000 in May alone, according to records obtained by the New York Post.

This New York City Council has spent $80,000 on Drag Story Hour this year, more than triple the amount spent last year.

The program began in San Francisco in 2015 with performers in drag reading to children from three to eight years old. It then spread to libraries and schools across the country.

The purpose is to “capture children’s imagination” and introduce them to LGBT concepts such as “gender fluidity.”

Bill Pan contributed to this report.