The Molotov cocktail caused minimal damage, the owner told The Washington Post. By Wednesday, the Donut Hall was back in business, with employees ready to serve warm cups of joe and fresh donuts Swain decorates daily. But Swain said he gets unnerving shock when someone lashes out at him for “little things like displaying china donuts on his server for a drag queen.”
“We just want to make donuts,” Hunter said. “We’re just a small business. Like making donuts and having fun. We don’t understand.”
Hunter said the October 15 event was filled with “overwhelming support, love and laughter.” That night, his Donut shop transformed into “The Queens Dirty Dozens,” a concept envisioned by the artist. Daniel Glickcartoon silhouette of . Queen Elizabeth II decorated the shop. Instead of a performance, a drag queen dressed as the best housewife of the 1950s offered a colorful ceramic donut sculpture of her. People lined up at the bottom of the block hoping to enjoy the pop-up.
However, when Swain and Hunter returned to the store the morning after the event, they found shards of shattered glass where the front door used to be. Someone broke it overnight, Hunter said — the motive behind the vandalism isn’t clear.
“We couldn’t work for a few days because the weather was affecting the temperature inside and affecting donut making,” Hunter said. We were able to put it back together and resume operations.”
Locals helped clean up the clutter, and children used chalk to draw rainbows and hopeful messages outside the Donut Hole. The donor quickly surpassed the goal set on GoFundMe to replace the glass, and her remaining $3,500 was donated by Swain and Hunter to the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa, which supports the LGBTQ community. I was. The shop she re-opened on Oct. 19, offering Halloween-themed baked goods and Swain’s favorite, pumpkin her donuts with cream her cheese icing.
But just when everything seemed to be going well, Donut Hole was targeted a second time. Just three days ago Swain and Hunter planned to hand out free donuts as a thank you to the community. The Molotov cocktail thrown inside did not completely decompose, but left behind a trail of smoke and ash. Investigators don’t yet know who was behind the attack, but Swain said he left an “envelope with anti-LGBTQ messages and scriptures.”
The incident at a donut shop in Tulsa’s Brookside neighborhood mirrors a series of protests and attacks that followed. Drugs and LGBTQ events nationwide this year. From California to New York, far-right groups and individuals increasingly target events such as Drug Story Hour, viewing the normalization of debates about sexual orientation and gender identity as “grooming” children. often justify their actions. the post previously reported.
“It’s so heartbreaking because this is kind of new that we’re going through,” Swain said. [drag] Mistress, this is just life, nothing new to them. And I’m so sad because I feel guilty after what happened to us…and it’s never their fault.
Still, despite the shock and horror, Swain said she and Hunter were ready to make donuts at the store they bought them in May.
A stranger and a customer helped make it a reality again. go fund me Hundreds of donations began pouring in after Monday’s attacks, surpassing the $20,000 goal well beyond the $2,500 target.
It also helps that the same local business that replaced the store’s glass door after the initial attack was able to make another copy after this week’s incident.
“Fortunately, they still had our measurements,” said Swain.