Drag Queen Story Time

The point is to have fun.

Why is it 'fun' to have a man wearing fake breasts read a story to children?

Would it be 'fun' to have a woman with a codpiece do the same?

What benefits exactly? I don’t see the benefits of an adult entertainment brought in for small kids - unless it is to normalise adult entertainment to small children. Why not get in pole dancers then?

There are discussions (well, spats) on twitter with cheerleaders saying that such acts should not have checks - they don’t specify exactly why one group of adults shouldn’t have checks beyond ‘it’s transphobic’ to ask.

What is your point? A stripper could have ADHD but wouldn't be appropriate for doing a story time, because of the whole stripper thing.

I think your missing the point here if you're saying DQST is fun, so is going to see a Disney film, what's the difference? Those two aren't comparable, a Disney film is children's entertainment. The footage of those kids in the US at that adult drag show looked like they were having fun, does that justify them being there?

I am not suggesting that anyone who is around children should not have these checks done. I am saying that many people on this thread have questioned whether this person has been adequately checked but do not question a library's checking procedures when other adults have read to children in their libraries, it is just trusted and assumed that this has been done.
I don't think this drag queen speaks about ADHD to toddlers and also I believe that children attending can be older than toddlers, up to around 6/7. But you specifically said what about disabled story hour, I was saying that this person is disabled whilst also being a drag queen and doing a story hour.
As to what is the point, I do feel there are benefits which people here may not agree with but maybe just because it was a fun summer time activity that children enjoyed and their parents enjoyed. We could discuss what 'the point' is of many activities we do with our children such as taking them to see yet another Pixar film, taking them to Disney land etc we do it because our children enjoy it and it's fun. The point is to have fun.

Why speak to toddlers about ADHD? What is the point of these story times? And yes, anyone interacting with kids needs to have checks - why would any group NOT have checks? I had to have a check when I read to kids at DSs school when he was little. I also had to have a check when I worked somewhere that had a nursery on the premises (I had no reason to interact with the kids).

I have to check people where I now work - and that’s a fair amount of paperwork that I have to have filed and available for external checks. If someone demanded I didn’t check them/there was no need to check XY or Z people then I’d be really suspicious. And they wouldn’t be allowed on the premises.

Well the drag queen you seem to be refering to the most does have ADHD so therefore it is drag story time and disabled story time. But would you be contacting the libraries involved asking if DBS checks were in place for any other person reading to children? Obviously they would have this in place but this topic mentions several times what safeguarding has been put in place for DQSH and contacting libraries on this issue. Do you do this every time there is a story time at your library?

It's never disabled person's storytime, is it?
Drag is adult entertainment. Take your kids to a drag show when they are 18

Sounds like they're 100% passing the buck to the library service.

Response from Leeds City Council to my second complaint. Doesn't address any of the points about how this benefits small children, why adult, misogynistic, sexualised entertainment is appropriate for children. Blurring boundary between sexes etc etc.

'Your complaint has been escalated to Stage 2 of our procedure and allocated to me for investigation and response in line with our Complaints Policy.

I shall first detail my understanding of the elements of your complaint

The presence of security guards checking bags at Central Library on 6 August 2022

The inclusive nature of both this event and our wider programme

The appropriateness of the event

For clarification, I will address each point in turn.

I am sorry to learn that your child was distressed by the presence of security guards checking bags at Central Library on 6 August.

This extraordinary process was put in place following intelligence gathered form library services across the country where the Drag Queen Story Hour had been performed. We implemented this process as a result of discussions we had locally with the police and our security teams.

The guards were instructed to make the process as friendly as possible and to greet library customers with a warm welcome. We received a number of positive verbal comments on the day thanking us for creating a safe environment for the performance to go ahead.

We are proud of the diverse nature of our programming which has included, for example a programme of Digital Stories for children which focuses on celebrating global majority communities and we currently have an exhibition and events programme celebrating the Jamaican community in Leeds. We will ensure that we continue to include Equality, Diversity and Inclusion as a key strand of our future programming.

As outlined in the earlier response to you, before this event was booked it was reviewed for suitability and quality by the Library Service and was judged to be an appropriate event for the intended age range

I trust that I have fully addressed the issues you have raised. However, as your complaint has now been considered under both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of our Complaints Policy, if you wish to continue to pursue any aspect of your complaint'

Cast-iron is often a good baking implement for pies of any type, so I think it goes without saying how enduring some posters self-regard is.

Damn, I missed that thread. It really is a thing of beauty! Somebody must have cast-iron self-regard to show up again after that...

I don't think anyone is claiming that any library visitor is going to sexually assault children in full view of everyone attending. (Do libraries require DBS checks for people they host?)

However, you seem to be misinterpreting the stats on abuse to mean that abusers only want to abuse children they're related to, or children of friends, though. Those are the children they have access to.

As a sweeping generalisation, we all try to protect our children. When you restrict the people who have contact with your children to people you know and trust, that means the only people who can abuse your children are people you... know and trust. It doesn't mean that people you don't know and trust are safer.

Back in 1999, it was reported that

CARPET slippers can seriously damage your health, a report warned yesterday. Figures showed they cause more accidents in the home than any other type of clothing. A staggering 27,771 people landed in hospital in just one year because of slip-ups with their slippers.

That was probably a greater number that the number of people from the UK who ended up in any hospital that year for mountaineering injuries. Does that mean mountains are safer than one's house?

What if the drag queen is white, straight, male and middle aged?

Anyway, the issue for me is not that I think a drag queen is going to secually abuse my child. It's that I don't want to expose my children to sexually explicit and misogynistic behaviour and normalise that behaviour.

Well MargaritaPie was obsessed and so very confident, knew all the ins and outs of the Marion Millar case and exactly how it would go and then it um...didn't go MP's way and all MP's assertions about it went up in a veritable puff of smoke.

Not that I'm planning on leaving my son with anyone that I don't know but for me a drag queen with a basic dbs where I am present is preferable to me than dropping my son off for a sleepover with your children with your white, straight, male, middle aged husband's present as statistically they are the group of people that commit the most sex offenses on children. It doesn't seem fair that you are claiming so many safeguarding concerns in a drag queen story hour but don't recognise that statistically abuse in the family home or family friends is much more common. There's always a risk

Thymeandagain

Yes Thyme.

And as Embarrassing has said, we have had a slew of brand new user names making posts stating ‘I am GC… but’… and a slew of brand new user names posting claims that are cherry picked, unverified and end up being simply something they have pulled from somewhere else to vilify people they don’t agree with.

And there are the established posters who are doing the usual bad takes twisted to misrepresent what others have really done or said.

I now have taken to mostly fact checking any poster I haven’t come across before. Most of the time, it is just a misrepresentation or a blatantly dishonest interpretation.

This reminds me of the glory that was the Mr Blobby thread. It all started when MP linked to an article (in the Scottish Express, IIRC) that said the opposite of what they claimed it said about Mr Blobby...

After that, the thread became well worth the price of admission.
www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4443308-Sean-Gunn-tells-JKR-to-STFU?page=3&reply=113898461

@ArabellaScott the slur I was referring to was the video from Reading when they were shouting paedophile outside the venue which was unnecessary. Perhaps slur was the wrong choice of word but it was inappropriate, in my view, in front of families.

Sorry I haven't RTFT.

I'm really confused. I have nothing against drag queens at all but my understanding is drag is a very particular and adult art form. It's not even being trans it's its own separate thing.

So why would it ever be appropriate to advertise this to children? It actually seems very offensive in this context to both women and trans women. Because what's the point it's making? That it's entertainment to be or present as a woman? Or that drag is an appropriate art form for children and not an adult, sexuality/sensuality plus adult themed comedy act?

It just doesn't really make a lot of sense and that alone is enough to make me question the motivation.

We do tend to check things here on the FWR board, otherwise people will just post unsubstantiated rumours off other social media.

And there has been a recent local outbreak of, "I'm as GC as they come, fellow female earthlings, but…" followed by a fairly jaw-dropping strawman or mind-numbingly bad faith account of something.

Really? Who? So we can check it out for ourselves. We do tend to check things here on the FWR board, otherwise people will just post unsubstantiated rumours off other social media.

Please link who it was up.

Do you know her personally or are you going by a SM profile? Has she posted about this event and her actions?