If you want to see where America is headed in terms of moral decay, look to the West Coast.

In Spokane, Washington, the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is representing a pastor facing criminal charges in connection with a drag queen event.

Pastor Afshin Yaghtin went to a public library in Spokane on June 15, to observe the Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH).

Yaghtin wanted to enter the library but was barred by police. He was not carrying signs and he did not consider himself a protestor. The police ordered Yaghtin to leave the premises – otherwise open to the public – and go across the street with everyone else who the police deemed opposed the event. 

Yaghtin asserted his First Amendment rights and the police responded by arresting him. He was handcuffed and thrown in the back of a police van for several hours. Yaghtin later learned that his stand may have put his life in danger, as the police had positioned snipers on the roof of the library. 

Police allowed supporters of the drag queens to surround and enter the library. Some carried provocative signs depicting Jesus in a dress reading to children. Other supporters dressed like angels with oversized wings.

“The number of criminal charges being filed against pastors and evangelists across the country in just the last few years should be alarming to every freedom-loving American,” said PJI President Brad Dacus. “This arrest in Spokane is one of the clearest examples yet of viewpoint discrimination, and we will be vigorously contesting the charges.”  

In June, two moms in Des Moines, Washington, were threatened with arrest and escorted out of a library-hosted Teen Pride event. The moms observed the organizers giving minors genital-shaped bookmarks, lubricants, and breast binders. It was claimed that parents were not allowed at the event unless accompanied by a minor.