Gillette grapples with anti-LGBTQ bigotry
GILLETTE – It was just supposed to be a magic show.
Months ago, trustees at the Campbell County Library, seeking performers for their summer programming, booked magician Mikayla Oz, a well-regarded entertainer who has built a career performing hundreds of shows for family audiences across the Midwest.
But there would be no magic in Gillette this week. The day before she was set to perform, Oz — who was slated for dozens of shows around the region this month, including four in Campbell County — was forced to cancel, citing numerous threats she’d received from members of the community. “You ain’t f**king welcome in Gillette,” a community member wrote in one email Oz received. “If you come here there’s going to be issues,” another told her in a phone call, she said.
“With great regret, regret shared by [the] Campbell County Public Library System, Oz canceled her programs in Gillette and Wright due to safety concerns for herself and library patrons,” the library announced in a Tuesday release.
Oz is a transgender woman from Iowa, who found herself at the center of a local controversy between the Campbell County Library and a community group that opposed the library’s Pride Month book display.
Read more: https://www.wyofile.com/gillette-grapples-with-anti-lgbtq-bigotry/