SF drag queen Panda Dulce did not give up on Drag Queen Story Hour when the Proud Boys violently stormed her reading in 2022. Instead, she stars in a new short film about it, and it has its West Coast premiere tonight at the SFFILM Festival.

SFist first met drag queen Panda Dulce when we visited “Drag Queen Story Hour” in 2017, amidst a right-wing media backlash that falsely claimed that these drag events at library children’s sections were taxpayer-funded (they weren’t). The recurring event was founded by SF writer Michelle Tea, and quickly grew to gain nationwide popularity in other cities across the US.

But a 2022 Drag Queen Story Hour event at the San Lorenzo Library was violently stormed by Proud Boys, shouting homophobic and transphobic slurs, and flashing “white power” symbols. The event was disrupted and the kids were terrorized, but Panda Dulce, who was reading kids’ books at this event too, returned to finish the story-hour reading.

But now Panda Dulce, or rather her alter-ego Kyle Casey Chu, has co-written and stars in a 15-minute short film about the incident. After What Happened at the Library has its West Coast premiere Wednesday night at the Marina Theatre at 5:45 pm, one of seven short films playing in an SFFILM Festival lineup.

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“After What Happened at the Library is a short fictional film detailing the direct aftermath of the 2022 San Lorenzo hate crime that upended my life,” Chu tells SFist. It’s actually a fictionalized version of the real-life event, as Chu explains in a synopsis. “In the aftermath of a terrifying incident during a drag story hour, a drag queen faces a different kind of ordeal while being interviewed by an ostensibly friendly media personality.”

The film has already won a Special Jury Award at the Florida Film Festival, and will also play again at CAAMFest on Friday, May 9th at AMC Kabuki.

“I could talk about the details, and how the authorities failed to exact consequences for this incident,” Chu says. “No crime report was ever filed, they said it was out of their hands, and that this didn't qualify as a hate crime — when in fact, ‘hate crime enhancements’ can be applied to any crime. The culprits are still at large and have not seen consequences.”

“But instead, I want to talk about how, in the age of social media, trauma is packaged for mass consumption, and through this process, how public victims are expected to 'play a role' and shoulder a heavier burden,” she adds. “Because this is what the short film is ultimately about.”

The incident, of course, drew national media coverage. “Many journalists pressured me to painstakingly relive every excruciating detail of the incident itself, even if I was adamant about not doing so,” according to Chu. “Some were hungry and ruthless about it. And then, when the stories finally aired, I often found they'd just extracted one tearful, five-second soundbite from our interview. It made me question why I was made to relive it so intensely. And why capturing my performance was prioritized over all else. There's an inhumaneness there that I don't want to lose sight of.”

Chu explains, “It soon became clear that my story was chopped up to fit a preconceived story formula that wasn't my own. Some pieces funneled the story into a call to support ‘expanded public safety measures,’ which wildly contrasts with my own politics. I asked many people to include that I returned to the reading room to finish the reading, knowing this incident might at least motivate and inspire queer activists to organize. Instead, most journalists omitted this detail, because, I'm guessing it didn't fit their formula.”

“It's one thing to experience public trauma. It's another thing to then have yourself and that experience mistold and misunderstood in the aftermath," Chu adds.

“Some journalists asked me to justify my identity and actions: ‘Do you think drag is inappropriate for kids?’ And ‘Don't you think ____?’” Chu says. “I was coached and prodded to say their arguments for them and weirdly made to speak on behalf of all queer people and drag performers everywhere. It was disorienting to have other narratives thrust on me, just as I was beginning to process it myself.”

Chu further says that she felt "oddly taken advantage of" by the media, given that this was a situation where no charges would be filed. "Instead, the incident was opportunistically seized on as an essential ingredient to someone else's retelling.”

“After the incident, my inbox overflowed with gushing praise, death threats, love letters, trauma dumps, transphobic threats,” Chu says. “People at drag shows wanted to take pictures with me. As public victims, my writing partner [Róisín Isner] and I knew this idea of ‘dark celebrity’ was a dynamic worth exploring. Something that will only become more common and frequent as long as social media remains an important fixture in our lives and we continue to consume news the way we do.

“Even the smallest blip on your newsfeed might wash away with the next news cycle, but it will stick with that person for the rest of their lives.”

After What Happened at the Library is cruising the film festival circuit, but Panda Dulce is working on other pursuits, too. Last week, her new young adult novel The Queen Bees of Tybee County was published, and it’s already won an American Booksellers Association's Indies Introduce Kids award. Her picture book What Kind of Queen? about the life of SF drag legend and Imperial Court system founder Jose Sarria, is expected in 2026. And she’ll star in another short film about SF’s all-Asian drag troupe Rice Rockettes called Betty, which will premiere at NewFest Pride in NYC on June 1st, 2025.

You can catch Panda Dulce's The Queen Bees of Tybee County book signings at the Castro’s Fabulosa Books tentatively scheduled for May 1 at 7 pm, and at SF’s Books, Inc. on June 21 at 4 pm, a Pride Month Author's Chat with Chu in drag.

After What Happened at the Library screens as part of SFFILM’s collection of short films Under Precarious Circumstances on Wednesday, May 23, at 5:45 pm at the Marina Theatre. $21.50, Tickets here

Related: Drag Queen Story Hour, Begun In SF, Stirs Controversy As It Spreads Across Country [SFist]

Image: ‘After What Happened at the Library’