Drag queen hits back at abuse
The creator of the Rainbow Storytime readings that Brian Tamaki has shut down in Rotorua is a former Destiny Church member who is angered at the abuse she and drag queen Daniel Lockett, who she reads with, have received from Tamaki’s team.
Sunita Torrance — stage name Coco — is the drag queen performer behind the readings. She and Lockett — stage name Erika — dress in drag and read kids books such as Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae.
Torrance said since news of Tamaki’s protest action had been made public, she and Lockett had been abused and threatened. A reading planned for yesterday at the Rotorua Library was cancelled late on Wednesday amid safety concerns.
The Herald revealed last week that Tamaki and his team had planned to protest at the Rotorua event. Tamaki said similar action and pressure would be put on the Gisborne and Hastings councils to can their readings next week.
Tamaki told the Herald he makes no apology for preventing the reading. “I am so proud of our teams and the people of Rotorua who stood up to local council and Drag Queens in Libraries storytelling our children.
“As a father and greatgrandfather, I will go to any lengths to protect my children.
“Many good people have been trying to get these shut down for a while now, but I’m happy to lend my assistance to . . . finally make that possible. They are inappropriate as they sexualise our Kiwi children.”
Torrance said she was bought up as part of the Destiny Church wha¯ nau. “I grew up in the church, so I have that upbringing and I would never subscribe to the idea of telling people they shouldn’t exist — where does that come from?”
Torrance said the Rainbow Storytime readings were about children reading and she completely understood why Rotorua cancelled.
“This is about the children and we do this for the kids and it’s childfriendly,” she said. “We had 80 people registered for Rotorua, they are the ones who will miss out.
“I created this curriculum on my own and it’s about children reading and having fun.”
The online abuse has come quick and hard, Torrance said, and contained inaccuracies.
Lockett’s character, based on Erika in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, has been twisted to suit others’ agendas.
“We have been targeted online and the abuse has been terrible. They are publishing our names and our photos and crossing the line but being called a paedophile is about the lowest thing you can do to anyone.
“Daniel is about to move to London to work and who would want that type of accusation hanging around? These people talk about freedom of speech but [it seems] just their type of speech is acceptable.”