Emotions run hot at Derry Council meeting over state rep’s drag queen comments

DERRY, NH – Derry Town Councilors and Rep. David Love sparred during Tuesday night’s meeting over Love’s Feb. 10 statements accusing drag queens of inappropriate behavior.

During the meeting, Love equated the kid-friendly Drag Story Time events in Derry last year and in Nashua in 2019 to exposing children to a “stripper.”

“How would you feel if somebody brought a stripper or a pole dancer to teach kids?” Love said.

RELATED STORY: Community members call out derry state rep’s ‘false’ testimony against drag queens

Love, who did not attend the drag queen events, said it was exposing children to sexuality. Council Members Joshua Bourdon and Neil Wetherbee objected to this, saying there was no sexuality.

Morgan said Love defamed two gay performers with untruths, but Love stood by his comments.

“Representative Love. You lied during testimony,” Morgan said.

“I did not,” Love replied.

The two went back and forth on this point. Love said he was sure he read a newspaper article about one of his allegations and that others have read it too, but Morgan said it is not in print anywhere. Manchester Ink Link has not found any articles supporting Love’s claims.

“Don’t come up here and try to defend yourself when you lied in testimony at the statehouse,” Morgan said.

“I didn’t lie in testimony,” Love said.

“OK, you accused two people of doing things they didn’t do,” Morgan said. “That’s a lie. Look it up.”

As Manchester Ink Link previously reported, Love, a Republican state representative of Rockingham District 6 and a candidate for Derry Town Council, came under fire for alleging one drag queen performer of lewd behavior during a child-geared story time event in Derry last year, and for asserting a drag queen who performed at a similar event in Nashua in 2019 was a “convicted sex offender.”

Both accusations are false according to the performers, their audience members and the sex offender registry.

Love told a House committee that 22-year-old performer Michael McMahon, who performs as drag queen Clara Divine, was “rubbing butts” with children and taking things “too far” during their Drag Story Time event at Tupelo Music Hall in June.

Councilor Jim Morgan, a gay Republican who’s soon-to-be-vacated seat Love is running to fill, was outraged by the comments and wrote a letter to the committee to call them false.

“In our town, we need to demonstrate that these anti-LGBTQ views just are not appropriate,” Derry resident Craig Cunningham said during public testimony Tuesday. “But I think, moreso, we need to support the youth in this town, particularly the LGBTQ youth, and let them know that we do accept them.”

Cunningham was the first to address the Council, expressing his dismay at Love’s earlier comments and his gratitude that the Council was to proclaim an official annual Pride holiday.

Morgan read the proclamation later in the meeting, declaring June 28 the town’s official LGBTQ Pride Day and said the town would recognize this by displaying the Pride flag annually from June 1 to June 30.

“We want to project Derry as an inclusive and supportive community,” Morgan said.

During Cunningham’s testimony, Love interrupted saying Cunningham was out of order for talking about a candidate. Morgan told Love to “sit down” and pointed out he already stated the rule was to not talk about the election itself.

Later, Love addressed the Council, saying he is “interested in protecting children.”

“The drag queen thing was brought to young children. Leave the kids alone,” Love said. “Let them grow up normal. Decide what they want after they hit puberty just like everybody else.”

Wetherbee asked Love what his definition of “normal” was.

“Who’s version of normal? Your version? You tell me what’s normal, right here, right now,” Wetherbee asked.

Love said he didn’t think a man wearing a woman’s clothes was normal. Councilors said it was normal in some circles.

“Not any circles I’ve ever been in,” Love said.

Bourdon said his kids attended the event and “they did just fine.”

Love said if Bourdon’s kids “bring it to school” and “something inappropriate happens between” Bourdon’s kid and Love’s kid, and “my kid breaks your kid’s nose, it’s your own kid’s fault.”

Bourdon told Manchester Ink Link Wednesday he understood that comment to mean Love believes violence against LGBTQ youth is justified, and that Love believes homosexuality is contagious.

“David Love talks about saving kids? I’m trying to save kids from homophobes like David Love,” Bourdon said Wednesday.

McMahon and Nashua drag queen performer Robert Champion, who performs as Monique Toosoon, previously told Manchester Ink Link they are seeking legal counsel about potential defamation charges.

Morgan said the proclamation for Pride Day was something the council had been planning long before Love’s comments came to their attention, but the timing ended up being serendipitous.

During Chairman’s Report, Morgan said he was stepping down from public office because he sold his Londonderry manufacturing company SemiGen in October and his family is planning on moving out of Derry.

“That has afforded my husband and I to have the moon,” Morgan said. “We are going to buy a farm and we are going to start a very relaxed life on a very large estate up in northern New Hampshire.”