Drag Queen Story Hour: Tate Britain protester found guilty

Lance O'Connor made remarks about grooming and paedophilia, his trial heard

A man has been found guilty of a public order offence after protesting against a drag queen storytelling event for children in central London.

Lance O'Connor, 59, protested at Tate Britain as it hosted Drag Queen Story Hour UK featuring drag artist Aida H Dee on 11 February.

He was accused of making comments motivated by "hostility towards sexual orientation and transgender identity", Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.

He will be sentenced on 11 September.

District judge Neeta Minhas convicted him on Monday of the offence against one of the gallery's operations managers, Matthew Rowan.

But she found O'Connor, of Plaistow in east London, not guilty of the charge in relation to police liaison officer Anderson De Santis.

The event at Tate Britain attracted protests and counter-protests

The 59-year-old had denied two counts of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

The court heard the defendant was part of a small group of protesters who tried to attend the event but was refused entry, as it was restricted to families with children.

The judge said the defendant's comments to Mr Rowan went "beyond freedom of expression into hate speech".

'Defending paedophiles'

Prosecutor Luke Staton told the court that when a woman and her daughter tried to enter the event room, Mr O'Connor used words to the effect of: "They are indoctrinating children in there. There's a man dressed as a woman and he is defending paedophiles."

Mr Staton told the court Mr O'Connor had also said to Mr Rowan words to the effect of: "Do you think it's appropriate for a man to wear women's clothing?" and made comments about grooming and paedophilia.

Mr Rowan told the court Mr O'Connor's demeanour was "quite aggressive", adding: "It felt like he was trying to intimidate his way into the event."

Mr O'Connor's solicitor Sundeep Pankhania said the defendant "does not hold any non-trans ideologies" and was protesting that day because of a link he believed existed between Aida H Dee and convicted child sex offender Darren Moore, whom the court heard is now dead.

The defendant told the court he wanted to make parents aware of the links and was "trying to protect the children" and said he had not intended to cause distress to anyone.

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