Curtis Park Drag Queen Story Time targeted by hate group no plans to cancel
CURTIS PARK -- A Sacramento small business is facing death threats for a monthly event they've hosted before: Drag Queen Story Time. And the owners are worried the danger will follow them home.
Sacramento natives and husband and wife duo are working overtime in their Curtis Park store to create more than three dozen "Light The Beam" centerpieces for the Kings' first home Playoff Game on Saturday. Plus, they're doing florals for a wedding and will host their monthly Drag Queen Story Time on Sunday.
This is a typical weekend at Poppy + Pot, a floral and pottery shop in Curtis Park, named for California's state flower and the handmade pottery made in-store.
They're busy. That's what Da'Reen and Kevin Reichenberg are focused on, not the hate comments, calls, and threats to their children from a self-proclaimed "White Lives Matter" online group.
Thursday, they spent a chunk of their time fielding calls from out of the area -- all of the callers had the same homophobic or racist comments to offer, Da'Reen told CBS13. All of it, they said, aimed at the business' monthly Drag Queen Story Time.
"It's not just an attack on our business, it's not about our business. People are so upset about trans people existing," said Reichenberg, the co-owner, alongside her husband, of Poppy + Pot.
The small business is black and queer-owned, with the main intent of their storefront being a "safe space" for everyone.
"There's a way a larger group of supporters that drowned out the Proud Boys, we felt safe in here," said Kevin.
At a past Drag Queen Story Time, the business was the aim of a group of Proud Boys, defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a Hate Group. The Reichenbergs said their two young children, and other children in attendance, didn't fear the Drag Queens, but instead, feared what they heard outside.
"They're afraid of the people across the street, they're the ones yelling, flipping people off, insanely racist things, extremely homophobic things," said Reichenberg.
Brian Levin, the Director for the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino, told CBS13 new data that will be released soon shows Sacramento and Los Angeles are two California where hate crimes increased in the last two years.
"We see invective rising online about drag shows and gender non-conforming people, what else do we see? Militant groups, looking for excuses to act violently," said Levin.
Levin explained at a state level, California's numbers are "relatively flat" until you consider Los Angeles and Sacramento. There is also an increase in hate and extremism targeted towards gender non-conforming, transgender, and the queer community.
Levin said the Reichenbergs approach, to continue on with the event as planned, is a way to push back against hate speech.
Drag Queen Story Time will be at Poppy + Pot on Sunday, April 17th at 11:30 a.m.