DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo — Some families in Douglas County are trying to figure out how to talk to their children after a group of protesters disrupted the Douglas County PrideFest over the weekend.
Witnesses said dozens of people stood up at the start of what was supposed to be a family-friendly drag show. The group of protesters were wearing matching t-shirts, implying that they were protecting children.
"They weren’t protecting my child they were making them fearful," parent Brittaney Campbell said on Monday. "It was just unfortunate that these men felt they had the right to frighten my children."
Campbell was at PrideFest with her family. Her children were sitting with her parents when the dozens of protesters stood up to the block the view of stage just as a drag show was set to begin. Witnesses said they stayed there for about 40 minutes.
"My kids started getting really anxious and then my middle child ran to me in the back and was sobbing saying that he was scared begging for me to grab his brother and sister saying that they weren't safe," Campbell explained. "Then my youngest son ran up as well and he started crying too."
Campbell said drag queens as well as volunteers with the Parasol Patrol rushed in to comfort the children and try to distract them from the large group that did not leave.
"I’m just worried about the long-term effects of that because unfortunately having a mom who is gay they’re going to experience a lot of this hatred especially in Douglas County," Campbell explained.
"Just worried about how that’s going to affect them throughout their lives. They’ve brought up the incident multiple times since because they’re still trying to process it and I have to walk them through as a mom."
Dr. Sheryl Ziegler, a 9NEWS parenting expert, said parents should talk to their kids if they witnessed incidents like this. She explained at any age this could impact how kids see the differences in the world and how adults handle them.
"The last thing a parent who was there wants to do is just say we’re not gonna talk about it, let’s just move on and hope they forget it because it was probably a little too memorable and confusing and scary for kids to simply forget about and never talk about," Ziegler said.
"I feel though that the kids experienced an intimidating situation also something that they had little context for and something that depending on how their parent acted is going to stay with them for sure and so I think processing it and talking about it with their kids making sure they’re sleeping well, answering their questions to the degree of comfort that they have."
Campbell said she will continue to talk to her children about these situations not to create fear but rather awareness of challenges they may face in the future.
"If any of them turn out to be within the LGBTQ+ community they’re going to experience the same hatred and they have to be aware of what it’s like and how to handle these situations," she said.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office said no arrests or citations stemmed from this incident.
The PrideFest organizer said the group was allowed to come in because of freedom of speech and a public space but he said he is considering hosting the event on private property in the future so they can prevent the possibility of this happening again.
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