The appearance of the author in Rochester has canceled due to “security problems”
The organizers of the annual Rochester festival canceled an appearance on Monday by author Emily Neilson due to unpertified security problems.
The visit of Neilson, whose children’s book “The Rainbow Parade” was removed from the shelves of a local primary school in December because of its representations of public nudity, was to take place in a local church.
The organizers refused to share details on the reason for the cancellation by concern “for the security and privacy of the people involved”. However, Rochester Pride said on social networks that he does not think there is a continuous threat.
The non -profit organization, which has already bought 250 copies of “The Rainbow Parade”, said that it plans to organize a gift event in the near future.
Rochester Pride had invited Neilson to reading and signing a book following the decision of the Rochester public schools to withdraw “The Rainbow Parade” from a media center of the Franklin primary school.
Published in 2022, the illustrated book tells the story of a child who attends an LGBTQ Pride parade with his two mothers. Two pages of the book show that the people of the parade who are naked or partially naked, while another represents two men carrying harnesses.
Rochester’s Superintendent Kent Pekel told the school board in January that even if he strongly supports the inclusion of books that celebrate the life and experiences of LGBTQ people, imagery has made an inappropriate media center where Children could access the book without supervision for adults.
ROCHESTER PRIDE opposed to the district decisionBy saying that “perpetuated the idea that being openly LGBTQIA + and to express yourself as such should always be considered largely ashamed and only takes place behind fenced doors”.
