Days before the June 7 Arts and Pride festival, the Madison Heights City Council voted 4-3 to cancel a children's story hour — not because anything was wrong with it, but because a drag queen was the one reading the book.

The performer, Jadein Black, is a K-12 educator who had been vetted and approved by the event's planning committee months in advance. Her book — Auntie Uncle: Drag Queen Hero, a children's story about a drag queen who becomes a superhero — had been reviewed and cleared. So had her outfit: an autism awareness dress. The performance was planned to be completely child-friendly and swear-free.

None of that mattered. The council called a special meeting days before the festival and voted to pull the event anyway. Some members described the reading — in which an educator reads a storybook to children — as potentially "vulgar" and "overtly sexual," with no evidence to support either claim.

"We specifically vetted our drag performer," said Jennifer Nagle, a member of the event's planning committee, according to WXYZ. "We've been planning this for a long time."

The vetting process existed for exactly this reason. It was followed. The performance was approved. Canceling it at the last minute — after months of planning, with no new information about the content — sends a message to every LGBTQ+ family in Madison Heights: that their place at a public festival is conditional, and can be revoked at any time.

Family-friendly LGBTQ+ programming belongs at Pride. Story hours, educator-led readings, and children's performances are how families participate together in their community. When a pre-approved event is canceled based on who is leading it — not what they are doing — that is not a neutral decision. It is discrimination.

We are calling on the Madison Heights City Council to reverse its vote and reinstate Jadein Black's story hour at the Arts and Pride festival.