Man found guilty of public order offence after drag queen story time protest

A protester was allegedly ‘aggressive and intimidating’ towards organisers and attendees at a drag queen story-telling event for children at Tate Britain, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard (James Manning/PA)

A man has been found guilty of a public order offence after protesting against a drag queen story-telling event for children at Tate Britain in London.

Lance O’Connor, of Plaistow, east London, was accused of being “aggressive and intimidating” towards organisers and attendees and making a series of comments that were motivated by “hostility relating to sexual orientation and transgender identity”.

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.

District judge Neeta Minhas convicted him at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday of the offence against one of the gallery’s operations managers, Matthew Rowan.

Lance O'Connor arrives at the court. Picture: PA Wire

But she found O’Connor not guilty of the charge in relation to police liaison officer Anderson De Santis.

The Tate, in Millbank, central London, had been hosting Drag Queen Story Hour UK on February 11, with tales told by Aida H Dee, who was described on the gallery’s website as “the first drag artist in Europe to read stories to children in a nursery”.

People demonstrating against the event were at the scene, as well as counter-protesters.