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!

Why are they trying to normalise this modern freak show ?

Thought those went out with the Victorian era

Because Inclusivity is now almost entirely about T+ seeing as they are the most marginalised, downtrodden, discriminated against, excluded, abused group ever. 🙄

I wonder whether from the kid's point of view, this will all go over their heads. It seems that most young children think these drag queen's are actually women (step in the misguided trendy parent...'aah, they are not a woman, think on that...').

Still, I don't know why adults have to serve this up on a plate to children. Adult entertainment is...adult entertainment however you frame it and kid's aren't mini adults. There's already a ton of age appropriate children's entertainment that fulfills all the briefs of DQST, minus the overtones of gender identity and kink which are innate to drag.

Correct!

I think these are still going ahead 😔
I can't imagine the down to earth people of Southcote or Whitley are going to stand for this 😬🙄

Posters might be interested by this video which someone posted on a thread last year.

Drag Queen Story Grooming in Plain Sight

So sorry for such a late response. I’m an infrequent user & hadn’t checked the messages for ages. 100% ok with you using the words I wrote, adapted in a way that works for you i

I shall be contacting the libraries in Sutton Borough also, besides writing to the schools in this Borough as hasn't it been known to take place in schools?

That would be a nice quote for the local news.

Children find bogeys, willies and poo jokes amusing. Not very educations either.

Just wanted to say if you haven't complained yet please do - I know at least one library group is now very aware that some people aren't happy due to Twitter.

The people organising this are trying to convince themselves/ everyone else that it's just far right nutters from America complaining, so if you are local to a library and/ or a parent and can use your real name it makes a huge difference. Email is better than phoning as it leaves a trail, and obviously be polite so they can't write anything off as abuse. You will probably get a generic "Diversity blah blah" response so maybe reply to that as well.

Also Freedom of Information Requests are good as they have to be responded to within a timescale - goes into a different box! Maybe someone smarter than me can suggest some wording - not sure what would be most useful.

As OP (? or other PP) said it's a numbers game so if as many people as possible can contact their council/ library they will at least know this is an issue which can't be ignored. Thank you Mumsnet FWR you are amazing. 😍

Stonewall’s latest targets for indoctrination are two year olds.

^Research suggests that children as
young as 2 recognise their trans
identity. Yet, many nurseries and
schools teach a binary
understanding of pre-assigned
gender.
LGBTO-inclusive and affirming
education is crucial for the
wellbeing of all young people!^

This was obviously written by non-parents - folx who have never actually interacted with a two year old. Who should they be let within a million miles of one.

Sadly there will be some very boring and average parental units who will lap this claptrap up.

I'm fairly certain the drag queens won't be sexualising anything. Justin does a drag queen impression and pantomimes frequently use drag queens. I don't see a problem with this.

Oh god I've just read the thread. I take my previous comment back.

@ScrollingLeaves I saw the Stonewall quote - they really are a dangerous bunch of fanatics. Children like to play & pretend to be all sorts of things. It’s how they learn. They observe the world around them & from what they see they gradually learn a sense of what their society regards as ‘appropriate’ for girls / boys. They should be encouraged to challenge those sex role stereotypes, but they also come to understand that their actual sex remains constant. It’s terrifying that instead of encouraging children to do and like whatever they want, Stonewall want to indoctrinate parents into ‘transing’ their children. Everybody should be up in arms.

LizzyStrata · Today 09:42
@ScrollingLeaves I saw the Stonewall quote - they really are a dangerous bunch of fanatics. Children like to play & pretend to be all sorts of things. It’s how they learn. They observe the world around them & from what they see they gradually learn a sense of what their society regards as ‘appropriate’ for girls / boys. They should be encouraged to challenge those sex role stereotypes, but they also come to understand that their actual sex remains constant. It’s terrifying that instead of encouraging children to do and like whatever they want, Stonewall want to indoctrinate parents into ‘transing’ their children. Everybody should be up in arms.

Yes and these people want to hijack children’s propensity for make-believe and direct it/groom it towards the idea that women are over made-up, comical, grotesque, sexual objects on the one hand, while a man can be a woman on the other - and “Don’t ever be afraid of a grown up seeming ‘all wrong’ They are normal.”

Yes yes to both posts above.

In essence: let children be children. Please.

Can’t they be pulled up for this dangerous nonsense? Who could stop them?

I think we can all help to stop them! Write to your MP to let them know you will not vote for any candidate who supports Stonewall. Write to your Local Authority Chief Exec to say you’d be unhappy if any of the council tax was used to promote Drag Queen events in your libraries. Write to the head of Education for your council, and the headteacher & governors of any school you have links to, telling them there’s no place for Stonewall, Mermaids, DQSH in schools & nurseries. Tell them why. Ask them if they support transing children. Ask the Local Authority if they have signed up to any of Stonewall’s workplace diversity schemes & if so, ask them to leave, reminding them that many government organisations & businesses have already done so. The more they hear from us, the more likely they are to take notice & actually give this regressive nonsense the elbow. We have to keep going, enlist as many friends as possible & not stop complaining. We must be impossible to ignore.

twitter.com/Nullen80/status/1551511998080376837 I can't believe that they're having to police the local library! What a waste of local resources, this should have been cancelled ages ago. 3 more events due after this - they can't do this for every one?

If parents want to take their children to a drag queen story time they should be free to do so.

Ditto, if you don't want your kids to go, no one will force you.

It's called a free society.

It's great to see honourable, decent men standing up for the dignity of women and the safety of children.

In our "free" society people are also free to make complaints as to how public money is being spent, in a variety of ways, and to point out any child safety concerns they may have regardless of whether third parties like you Hearach think.

What’s the expression about having rights but not having the right to tell fire in a crowded theatre? Something my dad used to say.

Those saying ‘yeah take your kid if you want’ - I’m old enough to remember the Black and White minstrel show on tv. That was just so wrong - but there were (probably still are) some who said ‘oh it’s just harmless fun, doesn’t humiliate anyone, stop being a killjoy’