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National News Highlights — January 6, 2023

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Flame, a drag queen, reads children a story at a public library in New York — Photo by Seth Wenig / AP
Flame, a drag queen, reads children a story at a public library in New York — Photo by Seth Wenig / AP

Voices clash, homes vandalized over Drag Story Hour
An estimated 100 protesters against Drag Story Hour picketed a public library in the Queens borough of New York City on Friday last week, as part of a broader controversy over children's proximity to drag events.

The protesters carried signs reading "Leave the Kids Alone" and "Stop Drag Queen Story Hour."

The counterprotesters, meanwhile, numbered about 400, according to New York City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan. "We outnumbered the haters and drowned them out with chanting, drumming, dancing, and ABBA sing-alongs," he wrote on Twitter.

A spokesperson for the police said one person connected to the event was arrested, and that they received two arson complaints over burned vehicles. And a few hours before, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams released a joint statement with three other members saying that their homes had been vandalized in retaliation for supporting Drag Story Hour.

"The harmful, homophobic, and transphobic extremism targeting Drag Story Hour events and the New Yorkers who support them, including councilmembers, is vile and dangerous," they said.

Trump-appointed judges rule against Florida Trans students
The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 7-4 vote that a high school in St. Johns County, Florida, did not violate the US Constitution or federal law by keeping Trans students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity.

The school's policy was initially challenged in 2017 by Drew Adams, who sued the district after being barred from using the boys' bathroom at a high school in Ponte Vedra Beach. He was given the choice of the girls' or gender-neutral bathrooms instead.

Adams' lawyer, Tara Borelli of Lambda Legal, said that "this is an aberrant ruling that contradicts the rulings of every other circuit to consider the question across the country. We will be reviewing and evaluating this dangerous decision over the weekend."

Borelli also said that the bathroom policy in question violated equal protections under Title IX, while Trump-appointed Circuit Judge Barbara Lagosa argued that the policy was meant to protect students' privacy.