The police have removed several agitators who tried to disrupt the Helsinki Pride week event organized on Friday morning at Oodi Central Library.
The story-time incident, aimed at children aged 6-10, was hosted by a drag queen as police said protesters tried to disrupt the incident.
This led to at least three clashes in the lobby of the library building between protesters and their opponents, Oodi Director Anna-Maria Soininvaara told Yle.
The story event took place in the children’s area upstairs and went well, Soininvaara added.
"The police took the situation seriously because we had received a lot of threatening messages. The artist also got them," Soininvaara said.
He added that the agitators said they would resist "treatment"which refers to sexually suggestive luring of a child or young person and that some of them used swastikas.
"Drag queens have been talked about as if they were a highly sexualized figure. In reality, it was a fairy tale character and the event was designed especially for children," Soininvaara pointed out.
The Helsinki police wrote on Twitter that the police were called to the library, and they removed some people from the place with the help of the groundskeeper.
They added that the situation calmed down quickly and there were no grounds for arrest.
Source: The Nordic Page