A free family Halloween party with trick-or-treating, games, a costume contest and Disney-villain themed drag show in the heart of Hillcrest drew crowds on Saturday, Oct. 29 despite controversy and harassment in the weeks leading up to the event.

Over 1200 people attended the first annual Boo Bash, organized by TransFamily Support Services (TFSS), along with 125 participants in a Wall of Love meant to cheer on and support families as they entered the event and drown out chants from transphobic protesters.

“These kids just want to go out, have fun, and enjoy life. They don’t need that kind of mess looming over them,” Wall of Love participant Riley explained.

The crowd exceeded expectations, especially in the wake of outcry from parents in Encinitas who had a litany of concerns about queer-themed events sexualizing children, drag performances not being child-appropriate, and the event sponsors including gay nightclub Rich’s and Align Surgical Associates, which conducts gender-affirming surgery.

While the backlash started in response to the Encinitas School Board sending out the event flyer, the story gained national traction when a parent was interviewed on Fox News about the Disney villain-themed Drag performance slated for the event. This kicked off a round of online harassment and death threats directed at the performers who were accused of sexualizing children. It also positioned the event as a target in the larger anti-trans movement in the US.

“The rhetoric that has been going on so long about how drag can’t be family friendly, we know is ridiculous because all performers gage their performance based on the audience that’s in front of them,” said TFSS Executive Director Kathie Moehlig.

She said families loved the drag show which featured one drag queen reading a couple children’s books, another doing Disney trivia, and child-appropriate dances to popular Disney songs.

While the Wall of Love was organized to protect trans youth, one participant, Major, explained they were also there to support some of their friends who performed despite weeks of harassment in the lead-up to the event.

“It’s right to be out here. Nothing is going to happen in there to those children. Nothing but serotonin. They’re gonna have fun,” Major said.

In the wake of the uproar, TFSS fundraised for additional private security to protect attendees and organized a Wall of Love in which trans-supportive people cheered and greeted families to keep them from being intimidated by protesters. Several layers of protection cushioned families at the party kept major altercations and violence from breaking out. Private security was posted inside the edges of the fenced party, staff at partner organizations like San Diego Pride and the North County LGBTQ Resource Center wearing safety vests directed foot traffic, and an unaffiliated group, possibly Antifa although they declined being named, organized their own patrol along the outer perimeter of the event. In addition, SDPD set up barriers to block off the street and positioned themselves between protesters and antifascist counter-protesters at the rear of the event.

Despite calls for mass protest of the event, only about two dozen protesters picketed across the street from the event before moving to a dedicated area at the rear of the festival. The second protest area was set up intentionally to be near the port-a-potties and the back where less festivities were located. A couple trucks emblazoned with American flags and slogans also circled the event. Moehlig said many of the families were oblivious to the protesters who stayed for only an hour of the three-hour event. Their chants of “Go Home Groomers” and speeches on megaphones were drowned out by counter protesters and the cheering Wall of Love, as well as the music and festivities inside the party.

In the party, Moehlig said it was a chance for gender diverse youth to let their guard down and have fun after a rough year of anti-trans hate hitting the mainstream, a reversal from a decade of LGBTQ-rights gains. She said the event became a place where many gender-diverse children met other gender-diverse children for the first time. The kids recognized the space was filled with families like their own. Many approached her to explain how meaningful the event was amid attacks on trans youth.

“The biggest piece with protecting trans youth in particular right now with the very loud hate and rhetoric that is happening right now in school board meetings, in schools – kids are being bullied and harassed not only by their peers but adults in their community,” Moehlig said.

The party occurred in partnership with many other LGBTQ+-serving nonprofits, with staff organizing the Wall of Love while Moehlig’s team could run the festivities inside. Hillcrest Business Association let TFSS use the facilities set up for Nightmare on Normal Street which occurred later that night.

Max Disposti, the Executive Director of the North County LGBT Center, was in charge of the Wall of Love where he said volunteers came to defuse any possible protesters and focus on the safety of kids and families.

“We believe that our community is the one that can protect ourselves,” Disposti said.

Several staff members at Stronger Together Community Services (STCS), a mental health group that treats many LGBT+ people, joined the Wall of Love.

“We all want to come out to just show our support, show our love for our clients, for people, just the community in general, and just really be a part of what we’re trying to embody and what we feel are our true values,” said Bianca Lothridge, a marriage and family therapist at STCS.

A 2021 study found the odds of a recent suicide attempt among transgender and nonbinary youth fell a third if their gender identity was accepted by just one adult, whether it be family members, school staff or medical professionals. Acceptance from parents was particularly impactful on improving trans youth mental health.

Riley was one of many trans adults who came to support trans youth so they would not have to feel as alone as she once did.

“I never got the support and ability to even be myself. Just having that environment that you can explore those types of things is absolutely wonderful and stops a lot of trauma,” Riley said.

Another trans adult, Ezra Wheeler, said “We need to protect trans kids because trans kids have such high rates of violence, harassment, assault and suicide. The only way we stop that is changing our culture. I am not willing to stand by and let trans kids continue to be harmed.”

After receiving the positive response from attendees at the event, Moehlig promised this would be the first of many Boo Bash parties.