Even New York City, the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, is not immune to the surge of anti-drag protests that has swept across the U.S. this year.The protesters carried signs that said “Leave the Kids Aalone” and “Stop Drag Queen Story Hour,” while counterprotesters carried signs that read “Drive Homophobia Away” and “Libraries Are for Everyone,” according to local news outlets PIX11 and Gothamist.“The harmful, homophobic, and transphobic extremism targeting Drag Story Hour events and the New Yorkers who support them, including council members, is vile and dangerous.” In the past year, some conservative elected officials, right-wing media personalities and anti-LGBTQ social media accounts have characterized the program as inappropriate for children, and some have even gone so far as to describe it as sexually “grooming” minors, perpetuating a decades-old attack on LGBTQ people.The NYPD spokesperson said police had arrested and charged David Nieves, 33, of Brooklyn, with assault and harassment in connection with the incident, which happened at 4:50 p.m. Nieves did not immediately return a request for comment.This month alone, the report states, there were “more than 40 anti-LGBTQ+ protests, four-fifths of them specifically targeting drag shows or drag story hours.” “That escalation in intimidation and terrorism stems, in part, from violent groups like the Proud Boys shifting their attention to anti-LGBTQ+ issues and actions as right-wing media and influencers increasingly harp on these themes, as watchdogs like Media Matters have documented,” the report found."