Drag Queen Story Hour at Gorham Library Sparks Easter Weekend Backlash

Ted Adams, a Gorham resident, was escorted out of Baxter Memorial Library by Sgt. Ted Hatch of the Gorham Police Department on Easter Saturday after a physical confrontation with Gorham Pride volunteers who alleged he assaulted one of them while trying to force his way into a rented community room. Inside, drag performer Bryan Spaulding, appearing as Letta Dicken, was reading gender-affirming books to about a dozen children and their parents.

Adams denied the allegations. "They pushed me first as I tried to go into the room," he said. Hatch said Adams was not under arrest but was removed to prevent further incidents. It was his second confrontation of the morning: Hatch had already issued Adams a verbal warning after he cursed at a counterprotester for blowing bubbles at him.

Authorities will review witness statements, bystander footage, and library surveillance video to determine if criminal charges are warranted.

The scene outside the library's main entrance at 71 South Street drew roughly two dozen protesters and nearly 20 counterprotesters carrying signs and playing music. Adams framed his push to enter as a matter of civic standing. "I wanted to see what was going on a couple hundred feet from my house in a public building I paid for with my tax dollars," he said. "Why draw the shades and block the doors? I have a right to know."

Reporters were denied entry alongside protesters, despite the event having been publicly advertised as open to all ages. The storytime had drawn national attention after its promotion online. When asked to produce the library's written policies governing room rentals, press access, and event admissions, library director James Rathbun was unable to provide a specific policy.

That absence of documentation is what turns an Easter-weekend altercation in Cumberland County into a direct governance question for Sagadahoc County's publicly funded libraries, including the Bath Public Library on Summer Street and the Topsham Public Library on Foreside Road. If either library were to rent a community room for a comparably contested event, a short list of written policies would determine whether the result resembles Gorham or not: Does the room-rental agreement specify who may attend a private event held in a public building? Does it address press access when the event was advertised publicly? What is the protocol when a booking draws protesters to the entrance, and who absorbs the cost of any police response? Are those policies posted where the public can read them before an incident forces the question?

The Gorham confrontation did not start as a dispute over picture books. It started over rules, and the discovery that no one had committed them to paper.