Drag Queen Story Hour in Scottish Primary School

[rogdmum]

Well, not branded as story hour, but the drag queen is reading a story to primary school children... Brought in by an MP (Mhairi Black)

“Thank you to Flow and @MhairiBlack for sharing their experiences with us today. It was really important to hear about Section 28 and the negative effect it had. Thankfully now we teach #LGBTEducation proudly at @Glencoats_PS #LGBTQProud @LGBTYS @LGBTHistoryScot”

twitter.com/m_watsonht/status/1230607443455025157?s=21

[Edited by MNHQ to remove image at OP's request]

But Jeremy Vine has seen the social media posts. He described them as “spicy”...

The British Library are doing a drag story too - one of the drag queens has pic of him about to lick penis lolly. I mean. The entirely different set of rules and expectations of children's entertainers because they men in dresses is bizarre.

Also the mental gymnastics being done by Katy Brand and Jen Brister trying to say we all grew up with drag acts and we take kids to see panto dames and it's all harmless and lovely - it would be funny if it wasn't so bleak.

Who gets invited to our children's schools matters - if it didn't why do we have any safeguarding regulations at all? So we all accept it matters and we have guidelines ... but for some reason we're all being dreary old homophobic conservatives for holding drag acts up to the same standards as every body else.....

This is really quite worrying.

People seem to be completely missing the point that drag = sexualised, sweary adult entertainment so teaching children that drag is just about fun dressing up opens them up to all kinds of potential risks. The fact that these kids supposedly "asked for a drag queen" should already ring alarm bells. What happens when these kids start searching for drag acts on YouTube and following drag queens on social media?

Do children in Scotland live in a bubble?
No panto's or theatre? Lots of men dressing up as women.

Yet again - pantomime dames and male actors playing female parts are generally not sexualised performances (and if they are they're not suitable for schools).

No-one would have a such a big problem if the local panto dame came to visit (well, some people might rightly point out that panto dames rely on regressive stereotypes but that's not the big safeguarding issue here) or Justin Fletcher playing his many female and appropriate for preschooler characters.

Would a club that hosts drag acts for adults be happy (and get as many people paying) to watch widow twanky instead? No, the answer is no.

Would teachers be able to work in schools if their social media was full of x-rated pornographic images. Again no.

It's really simple. Anyone who doesn't get that is either a) keen to erode children's boundaries for whatever nefarious end or b) really not very bright.

@Devlesko I saw a video on FlowJob's Twitter of them pretending to masturbate (as if they had a clitoris) as part of their drag act. Please explain to me how this is the same as panto.

Are these twitter adult masterbating scenes directed at children? Is this the act they take into schools. Are they encouraged to look at the acts social media, is it aimed at children?
Adult entertainers can also be children's entertainers too.

And of course no child has access to social media or would ever attempt to look up their new best mate the actor...

That's surely down to parents to know what their kids are doing on social media.

So if they'd sent parents a letter with details of the proposed performer and a link to the performer's social media accounts, what proportion of the parents would have been happy that this was a suitable person to invite into school?

Have a wild guess.

The point is that parents can't have full control over what their kids do on their phones. And even if they do, they don't have any control over what the other kids in the class find on their phones and share with their mates. Why would you invite someone into a classroom if you have to say "whatever you do kids, don't try and look this person up on the internet". Why expose them to that risk?

That's surely down to parents to know what their kids are doing on social media.

Devlesko but a big part of the problem is that now these children are literally on the social media of this drag queen (photo clearly showing the children’s’ faces on their very adult instagram account) despite parents not giving permission and at least one asking for it to be deleted.

Devlesko, there are many good and robust reasons NOT to take pornified sex into primary school classrooms. You seem determined to pretend not to see any problems.

Perhaps you could tell is why it IS a good idea? What exactly is the benefit of choosing someone with an explicitly sexual public persona - rather than any number of representatives from other walks of life - reading stories to very young children?

Devlesko what exactly is the purpose of drag queens being invited to so many primary schools? Do pole dancers and strippers and dominatrixes and men in leather chaps get invited to schools? Why the fixation on drag queens as some sort of inspiration and the only 'type' of LGBT person out there?

Are you telling me there are no athletes, writers, musicians, scientists, engineers, doctors, lorry drivers, chefs... Any other profession you can think of.... That doesn't have inspirational lesbian, gay, bisexual or even transgender person who is able to come to schools and show children that LGBT people are a normal part of our everyday lives?

You know you've fucked up when even John Swinney tells you you've fucked up www.heraldscotland.com/news/18260220.education-secretary-condemns-school-visit-drag-queen-called-flowjob/

This is a craven attempt to erode boundaries. How can you tell a kid that a sexualised adult performance is not a place for children when sexualised adult performers are invited in to their schools by trusted adults. I don't care if the sexualised adult performer is reading the Gruffalo or whatever.

If drag queens = pantomime dames then nursery rhymes with all their violence are no different from snuff movies.

As another drag queen has said on twitter in a video - exposing young kids to drag actively harms the gay community. You have to wonder, with many in the gay community against this, why they want to do it? twitter.com/demure_kitty?lang=en

Also, my primary aged kids do not have phones or unsupervised access to social media. However, they often come home from school and say 'person X came in to talk to us today' and I say (because I trust my school's safeguarding) 'let's look them / that organisation up together on the internet'. I wouldn't look it up first because I'd expect the school to only allow child appropriate people in . Many parents may have the same safeguards around their kids. It is unacceptable that the school did not inform parents this person was coming in and their real name (which is sexualised and also pretty misogynistic to boot).

But everyone understands this. There aren't really people who don't get the distinction between panto dames and drag or dancers and strippers. They just pretend to be confused because they don't want kids to be safeguarded.

No, still don't get it tbh.
They won't be doing adult programmes in front of children, it will be age appropriate.
If it isn't something you want your kids to see, you can take them out for the day.
I didn't like the way sex ed was going in schools and didn't think it was age appropriate for our culture, so they didn't have the class.
We taught them ourselves in an age appropriate way.
If I looked at this Drag Queen and didn't like it, then my kids wouldn't be watching it and at home for the day.

We've spent decades saying that homosexuals are not any more sex obcessed than straights, and we're tired of it being used as our defining characteristic. Then these hypersexualized versions of women portrayed by men are being used to "condition" kids as to who we are.

@littlbrowndog this is my primary objection to it.

It goes against all that people have fought so hard to change over the years.

Yes exactly

In this case the parents didn't know ahead of time so didn't have the opportunity to take their kids out.

But saying this is ok and no different to panto dames is the same as saying a ballet dancer is an equally appropriate person to have in school as a stripper. Just obvious rubbish.

If it isn't something you want your kids to see, you can take them out for the day.

The parents weren't told. So they didn't have this option.

Doesn't look like the Local Authority was told either. They have apologised.

John Swinney the Education Secretary has also apologised.

Waiting for Mhairi Black's apology.