Drag Queen Story Time at the British Library

[TundraDweller]

Three Drag Queen Story Times in one day -

www.bl.uk/events/family-day-young-rebels

www.bl.uk/events/family-day-young-rebels

Have emailed the chief executive, the box office and the local safeguarding hub

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

What is it with Drag Queens!? The Tower of London are doing a LBGT tour led by Drag Raven. Drag is so progressive and ground breaking it's been part of panto for years. Oh and Michael Rosen is there as well.
Is this really all LGB want to be known by after all these years? Is this the height of their cultural achievements. Perhaps the next celebration of Alan Turing should be in drag.

My email...
Hi, please can you tell me how you have come to the conclusion that an adult man dressed in hyper sexualised female clothing is appropriate entertainment for children?

You have a public duty to safeguard children and this shows a wanton lack of concern for this duty. 'Drag' as entertainment is based on adult sexual innuendo and is not appropriate for children.

Please cancel these events immediately, and you may want to review whichever staff members consider adult sexualised entertainment appropriate for children.

Out of all the rebellious role models could they not have gone down a different path? Why inappropriately hyper-sexualised drag queens? Why not a female firefighter, male ballet dancer, a young activist or elite sportsperson?

Is drag even rebellious any more? It seems quite mainstream to me.

Good email Newuser.

I mean I guess, at the moment, sexualised adult humour for children is rebellious, but for how long?

Agreed. Sexualised adult humour for children should not be remotely mainstream or presented as rebellious in a positive way. And yet here we are, appropriate boundaries slowly chipped away.

There are so many better options for this event.

It's everywhere. Am a member of the Royal Society of Literature and was looking at their 2020 events and saw this one:
rsliterature.org/rsl-event/dressing-up/

I know this is aimed at adults but I'll be surprised if it appeals to the core target audience who makes up most of their membership and goes to their events.

Sometimes I feel like there is a huge disconnect between the people who organise these things and their understanding of their audience who (mostly) pays their salaries. That, and the 'woke London lefties' pushing their agenda everywhere.

I have no issue with adults attending such events (as much as I think it's deeply offensive and rooted in misogyny) as we have agency. It's just such a blatant disregard for children's safeguarding, chipping away and it makes me furious.

I feel so bad for the little girls who have to watch women being mocked and belittled and caricatured, and have all the adult figures in their life telling them it's normal and acceptable.

I know how stuff like this affected me as a child. I really thought I was crazy because I saw so much misogyny everywhere (without knowing the word or concept of misogyny) and everyone seemed to think it was okay. But at least my mum had some kind of awareness of it all - she would never have dragged me to see a drag act.

Is anyone local where they can see what is going on (not sure how to do this as you wouldn’t want your children to attend)?

Grooming and sexualisation of children...

I never minded Lily Savage (was young at the time) - but with the likes of Diamond Good-Rim - it’s horrid

Yep, there's another one coming up in Belfast:

www.youngatart.co.uk/whats-on/dragtime-stories-cherrie-ontop

Our local Waterstones had a drag story time, featuring a man in a basque and suspenders reading to 5 year olds.

There is literally no justification for it whatsoever. If I stripped down to my very modest underwear in Waterstones I'd get arrested.

Looking forward hugely to pole-dancing story time.

I that a thing, yet?

@ThinkIveFoundYourMarbles

With Cherrie Ontop... Just googled

More like Spearmint Rhino

fucking hell...

What adults watch is up to them. What children watch is up to their parents / carers and the adults around them.

ThinEndoftheWedge

Indeed. Even the names of these characters say it all.

@ThinkIveFoundYourMarbles

Ontop - obvious
Cherrie - Just in case people don’t make the connection -
take (one's) cherry (redirected from take (someone's) cherry)
take (one's) cherry
vulgar slang To have sexual intercourse with a virgin, especially a female

Well done Belfast - you bloody idiots.

If these events are for LGBT history month, why not have lesbians reading to kids- statistically a very safe demographic.

Yes imagine the uproar if lesbians were reading to children while dressed only in a basque and suspenders.

Fine when a man does it though.

I've just written to them myself and given my tuppence worth.

I mentioned that I know that I won't be the only woman voicing their concerns about the spectacle. Which i hope they'll take seriously.

What are the odds that they realise they've done a wrong 'un with this tone deaf drivel and cancel the event??

I recently read a piece about a little girl wanting to be a drag queen but her mum telling her that it alas, it wasn't to be. Because it would be 'appropriation' and drag queens had been struggling against (not sure what) for decades now... so they might be offended by a girl (dressing as a female). Oh yes, days indeed...

The girl persisted and now dresses as a drag queen 'respectfully'.

The end (not - it's a real story)

I remember pantomime dames as a child and they came across as creepy clowns whose jokes I didn't understand. If anything it just made me more confused and uncomfortable about gender. As PP said - get in the male ballet dancers/nurses and the female builders/pilots! Kids would learn SO much more from these people.

I'm not seeing it advertised on the BL site.