Drag Queen Story Time

[LizzyStrata]

First time posting here, so not sure of the etiquette. My apologies if this is the wrong place to raise these concerns.

Reading Borough Council is planning to hold Drag Queen Story Hour events in our libraries during the summer holidays. I’ve written to my MP, my councillors, and the Head of the Library Service to raise concerns. I think drag is entirely inappropriate for children, as it is a form of adult entertainment, highly sexualised and misogynistic, that blurs boundaries and undermines safeguarding.

The response Ive had is simply that they have received very few complaints so no reason to cancel.

Has anyone had any experience of tackling their local library over this issue? Grateful for any tips.

Also, if you live in Berkshire ,would you be willing to write and share your concerns?

thanks!

And no their names bear no resemblance to the ones you have chosen to highlight.

Thanks. So you do see why those ones are a problem?

I think they are great role models, they have responsible jobs, do a great deal of charity work also and support the LGBTQ+ community.

I can't imagine that a child would even notice such characteristics, let alone be impressed by them. It just proves that DQST is all about the drag queen and not what interests the child. Story time's purpose is to encourage children to like books, not to recognize people with responsible jobs. I think a drag queen is more likely to frighten a small child and thus put them off the LGB++++ community, even in the unlikely event they understood what such terms meant.

Even more children will find the library boring and/or frightening.

Because of who they are as people, they might be in character but that doesn't change who they are or the good things they do. I'm not saying that just because they do drag that they are good role models, I have highlighted what they do in their day to day lives and said that they also do drag. My son knows them in and out of drag, they do nothing inappropriate either way. They've done good things with their lives and make people happy in and out of drag. I feel that they are good role models, you clearly don't. This whole thread is a group of women forcing their opinion that drag is degrading to women, you may think this, plenty of women do not and that drag queen story hour is an opportunity to sexualise children, when this isn't the case. Aside from that if you don't like it, don't go. This tour was a ticketed event, this drag queen hadn't come into your children's schools without your permission and the libraries were full of parents and children wanting to be there and all of the terribly behaved protesters didn't change that. My only concern in taking a child to these events would be having to explain why grown adults were screaming about sex and pedophilia in a library. I feel this is much more inappropriate

People here are acting like drag queens are coming up to you and your children and opening a book and demanding you all listen and enjoy it. Like I said, ticketed, at a library, in your town maybe once a year so far. Just don't go, I believe most were sold out anyways.

This whole thread is a group of women forcing their opinion that drag is degrading to women, you may think this, plenty of women do not and that drag queen story hour is an opportunity to sexualise children, when this isn't the case.

I just don't understand what the point is of having a man dressed as a sexualised parody of a woman reading stories to young children.

Can you explain what is the benefit of these events for the children? Specifically why a sexualised parody of a woman benefits them in a way some more child oriented character doesn't?

The fact that so many women find this offensive and inappropriate should make you pause for thought, shouldn't it?

Why do drag queens (or any one else) have to be in costume/character to read a story? How does that enhance the child's appreciation of stories so they want to learn to read? Good story tellers don't need costumes.

As long as you see drag the way that you do then there is no way I can explain any benefit because it just comes back to 'its a gross parody of women' that's why we're going in circles: we disagree about what we see drag as.

But what is the benefit? Why is this a good thing for kids (so good it can’t be criticised?)

You see drag queen's as innocuous. Plenty of people understand drag queen's as representative of adult entertainment, which I'm sorry, it is. For example, Krystal Lubrikunt is performing at a theatre near me, try explaining that name to your child.

I have a friend that does drag too, who has a responsible job in the day. His drag act is honestly filthy, and that's absolutely fine with me. But if my child started googling him and other drag acts, they would soon find a lot of adult material.

Plenty of great children's entertainers out there who represent nothing more than children's entertainment. And don't have a side agenda of gender woo which some of these DQST like Aida do, as evidenced by their social media (despite clearly identifying as male).

As long as you see drag the way that you do then there is no way I can explain any benefit because it just comes back to 'its a gross parody of women' that's why we're going in circles: we disagree about what we see drag as.

But the other people posting here can explain “what they see drag as” and why it’s not good for children. You have been actively invited to make your case for what you think drag is and why it’s good for children to see it… and you can’t. Does that concern you at all, that you can’t argue your position? If it’s a rational position you should be able to make a rational case for it.

So why are the benefits then? No one had actually outlined any beyond the buzzwords ‘inclusion and diversity’.

I don't have to explain anything actually, there is no point, whatever benefits I could say and have seen others attempt to make just get shut down and like I said go back to your view that it's adult entertainment that mocks women. That's not my view and nor will that change, much like your views. And to suggest that I find a benefit that can't be criticised by anyone is laughable. Whatever anyone does, especially in the public eye is up for criticism. But my general point is that you could all just not go and go to activities with your children that you do approve of. The parents and children that did go clearly enjoyed it and could see the benefits of it taking place. This thread is entirely about trying to stop it and often supports the extreme behaviours of protesters that actually did scare children and brought up topics such as pedophilia in front of the children you are claiming to protect. Anyway, this is my last post on the matter.

So you have none then?

ok. Noted.

Okay. If we don't have any suggestions I'll play devils advocate:

People think drag helps people who are gender non conforming be openly non conforming. Men wear clothes associated with women and this is seen as a way to subvert gender norms.

The trouble is that these queens aren't wearing what women actually wear. They're wearing a hugely exaggerated cartoon of femininity. Enormous breasts, grotesque make up that any woman would be mocked for, and stage clothing that underlines.their status as.something decorative, entertaining, and useless.

Feminists have been questioning stereotypes of femininity for a long time. Queens take it to an absurd extreme.

The line is that queens are subverting masculinity but it seems to me that they are just skewering femininity and by extension females.

I don't have an issue with drag for adults. (Though I mostly fond it a bit tired these days). It's too sophisticated for choldren to understand and there have been far too many instances of blurred boundaries and poor understanding of safeguarding to think it's a good idea. Aida HD is an activist overtly attempting to bring 'queer' to children.

By 'queer'of course we are not talking about his sexuality but about queer theory.

Ach. I was a teen in the 80s, a kid in the 70s. The glam rock years, the New Romantics, gender bending culture club and Marilyn, Annie Lennox and the New York dolls.

Todays ‘diversity’ is absolutely pathetic in comparison. Trot off and buy some clothing designed for men but looks a bit ‘feminine’? Gimme a break. No imagination or creativity. At least back in the day they may have been up their own backsides but never were threatening.

And as for Q theory. Where to start - the word itself is an insult to those who remember it as a hideous insult to gay people (mostly men) and not a shiny new label for spicy straights desperate to look interesting.

Drag sophisticated? 😂 nope. Its as sophisticated as a bacon butty.

Sophisticated in the sense that children under 6 can't get sarcasm or irony. At all. Anything more comes then a fart joke is too sophisticated for most young kids.

Under 6s don’t get sarcasm? You haven’t met many Glaswegian kids I’ve you?

And as for Q theory. Where to start - the word itself is an insult to those who remember it as a hideous insult to gay people (mostly men) and not a shiny new label for spicy straights desperate to look interesting.

Nicely said, Kitten.

This is "Aida H Dee's" post on facebook saying how he was harassed in the street just for holding his boyfriend's hand - which should totally not be happening in this day and age, of course. What bugs me is this is why he said he does DQST - to get acceptance! How exactly do you get acceptance of two men holding hands by dressing up as a pornified weird looking woman??? It is beyond me how these things are connected - and they TOTALLY won't be by the children who go to the storytime - why would it be?

"How exactly do you get acceptance of two men holding hands by dressing up as a pornified weird looking woman?"

I honestly don't know.

What happened to him was illegal and should be reported to the police.

He's not one to miss the chance to publicise his "work" though....

Being gay should by now be seen as just as boring as being straight so it's shitty that people are still getting hassled.

But dressing as a Drag Queen as a way to normalise LGBT - I just can't see the argument here. Be honest, performers do the Drag Queen thing because they enjoy it and there are performance opportunities.

The few interesting bits of drag (the subversiveness, the filthy puns, the terrifyingly over the top costumes) are completely lost when you water it down enough for 5 year olds in a municipal library in the middle of the day.

(I once came second in a ‘celebrity car crash’ themed drag queen beauty pageant, not as a ‘bio queen’ but as a double bluff, larping as a man parodying a woman.
Deffo don’t need my kids to know about that until they are old enough to be in a nightclub themselves)

I think he's just using being a victim of homophobia as a way to garner support?! I still remain dubious of any evidence at all that a drag queen reading stories to children counteracts homophobia. Especially when they are ticketed opt-in events, parents with homophobia surely wouldn't take their children along? I JUST DON'T GET IT!