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Rainbow Storytime has announced the cancellation of its nationwide New Zealand tour scheduled for later in the year - with the owner of the drag queen reading group saying she has “lost everything” following recent protests.
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki has been protesting the group over recent months including shutting down reading events in Rotorua and Hastings.
Hastings District Council and Rotorua Lakes Council cancelled three events combined last month, citing safety concerns and disinformation.
The scheduled shows would have seen two drag performers read stories about inclusivity and acceptance to children.
Sunita Torrance as Coco reading to children during the Rainbow Storytime NZ event at a library in Hastings. Photo / Wendy Schollum
There were widespread protests in Gisborne last month, where Destiny Church members vandalised a rainbow pedestrian crossing in retaliation to a Rainbow Storytime event that went ahead in the city’s library.
In a post to Facebook on Wednesday, Rainbow Storytime NZ wrote; “we are very upset and disappointed to announce the cancellation of the Rainbow Storytime NZ nationwide tour, which we were looking at doing later on this year.”
“We know there will be MANY sad kids and parents out there but with the current climate and Erika Flash [drag queen Daniel Lockett] now staying on in London, we are going to press pause on everything we are doing.”
Rainbow Storytime NZ founder Sunita Torrance did not wish to comment on the cancellation when approached by the Herald yesterday.
Daniel Lockett as Erika Flash at a Rainbow Storytime NZ children's reading event with Sunita Torrance as Coco at a library in Hastings 2022. Photo / Wendy Schollum
Sunita said she had “nothing to say” and was exhausted.
“My business is my only source of income, so I’ve lost everything.”
She said the business was focused on “getting through” a court case, which she hopes would provide a good outcome.
In and out of costume - Daniel Lockett and Sunita Torrance.
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki described the cancellation on his social media as a “victory”.
Two men, aged 46 and 36, and a 45-year-old woman were charged with graffiti vandalism after the crossing was painted white the night before the event.
In Hastings, councillors, library staff and council customer service had received a large number of messages falsely accusing the events of being a platform for the sexual grooming of young people.
Threatening notes were also targeted at performers Torrance and Lockett, and a risk assessment was undertaken, which informed the decision to cancel the event on March 27.
The group used white paint to the cover the rainbow crossing on Gisborne's main street.
Auckland man Ford O’Connor, 31, married to Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki’s granddaughter, pleaded guilty last week to vandalising the rainbow pedestrian crossing on Auckland’s Karangahape Rd.
O’Connor, 31, appeared in the Auckland District Court on April 15 on charges of intentionally damaging the crossing on March 28.
He agreed to pay $16,093 for the costs of repairing the crossing.
His lawyer, Steven Lack, said he would pay the amount in full within a month.
O’Connor was convicted and discharged.
The rainbow crossing on Karangahape Rd in Auckland was painted over with white paint. Photo / John Nottage / Reddit
Before O’Connor’s court appearance, Tamaki held a press conference in front of about 40 people to voice his “unwavering support” for him.
Tamaki said: “Today I stand alongside a young man, who is accused of wilful damage to the K Rd rainbow crossing... Mr O’Connor handed himself into the police last week and he was not arrested.
“As I stated before, Mr O’Connor undertook a political protest against the excessive rainbow-washing that is occurring across New Zealand right now, at the expense of our taxpayers and our ratepayers.
“This rainbow-washing has gone too far. The over-promotion and protection of this perversion is not right.
“The R18-plus content in sexual education in our Relationships and Sex Education [RSE] curriculum in schools has still not been removed, despite election promises from parties like New Zealand First.”
Brian Tamaki (centre) voiced his "unwavering support" for the man now convicted of wilful damage to the crossing, Ford O’Connor (left). Photo / Jason Oxenham
Tamaki also called for the removal of what he called “the rainbow movement’s branding and paraphernalia... trying to rainbow wash our kids”.
“We want officials to defund and remove drag queens’ story times from our schools and our libraries,” he said.
“Ban puberty blockers, remove RSE curriculum in our schools, defund InsideOUT, the organisation targeting our young with rainbow paraphernalia.”
O’Connor made a brief statement outside court: “I’m a father of four children so for me it was about standing up for them, making a stand to protect their innocence.”
