Starting from cases of drag story hour in public libraries and schools in the USA, an understanding of both the defense of its existence and of the attacks directed at its elimination is sought. A survey of recent situations in Portugal, aimed at intimidating the public fruition of LGBT+ works at the time of the Pride celebrations, is adduced. Agents, ideas and ideologies that have been confronted in disputes over the hegemony of censorship and the mainstreaming of freedom of expression in public reading with LGBT+ themes and people are identified. Attacks on libraries, schools and books have been reported in other countries, threatening rights and aggravating social inequalities. The construction of a theoretical framework is referred, from questions and concepts of the social sciences and humanities on cultural wars and on drag storytelling, to analyse scientific and journalistic texts and the auscultation made to activists in Portugal. The central purpose of this work is to understand how and why these wars were centred in books and reading mediated by libraries. Understanding how defunding, censorship and attacks with violence converge to the weakening of public reading and to aggravate social inequalities, a reflection is advanced on how bibliodiversity and freedom of expression are fundamental requirements, that are becoming more current and pressing, for cultural policies in democracy