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!

Do you feel like apologising for your nasty insinuations in relation to my previous post, Hearach? Just wondering if you are prepared to acknowledge your hate.

Some people would disagree. Recent times have seen drag appearing more and more on mainstream TV eg acts on Britain's got talent. It was seen as right on and progressive. To me it was just a shoe in for 3rd rate acts with limited talent. Take off the wig, heels and frock and there's nothing special at all. Same with drag comedians, in my opinion talentless. The novelty is wearing thin now.

'frothing at the mouth'.

I find that astonishing, really. That someone comes on here and to women who are discussing how they feel about drag queens dressing as exaggerated parodies of women, says we are 'frothing at the mouth'.

What next? Are we 'shrill'? Are we 'spewing' words? Are we 'hysterical'?

It's the ad homs that really show you up, you know.

The difference between panto and so-called 'drag' is that 'drag' is a highly sexualised activity. It is this that makes it unsuitable for children.

In panto, the dames do not exhibit sexualised behaviour or costumes.

Panto dames also have roots in Elizabethan theatre where the actors were always men and acted out the female roles.

If you are suggesting that so-called 'drag' is an appropriation of panto I would disagree because panto is nothing to do with sexual behaviours. Drag stands alone as something some gay men who hate women have created.

We'll be told "calm down dear" soon.
Market forces... As if we as mostly mothers care about that as a reason for things being. We want to protect children from harmful stereotypes and personal and sexual boundaries being weakened so that children are open to grooming.

The idea of "market forces" applying to decisions made by library managers is particularly incorrect.

Hearach15
Sorry you feel the existence of LGBT people is a child safety concern, you should meet more of us.

Who said the existence of Lesbian, Gay, Bu-sexual and Transgender (which kind of transgender) people are a child safety concern?

Please would you quote that thread?

People here are talking about transvestite males pushing their agendas onto children. They are not talking about transvestite males getting on with their own existences.

Who said the existence of Lesbian, Gay, Bu-sexual and Transgender (which kind of transgender) people are a child safety concern?

Posie Parker in that video the police visited her about yesterday apparently.

Did she? Do you know what whoever claims that gives as the timestamp for that in the video, please?

I really really really hate the fact that the people protesting at the library seem like right wing nut jobs. It really does need protesting but they are so extreme, no one will ever really listen. Plus you can't call someone you don't know a sex worker.

Are you not troubled by their ignorance? And more so the people who are prepared to accept hearsay rather than assess matters for themselves?

In a recent interview, Genevieve Gluck observed that women and lesbians have been successful in closing down safeguarding threats to children in the 1970s—90s. Gluck thinks that this time around there has been a cultivated strategy to denigrate women (mostly mothers) and lesbians as TERFs and on political fringes in order to undermine safeguarding concerns.

If people are prepared to go by hearsay without checking how the person that they trust arrived by that opinion, well, I'd say that the strategy that Gluck outlines has been very successful and we may well find out what the consequences of that are for safeguarding.

I don't see them as 'right wing nut jobs', they're just sensible men who are rightfully interested in protecting children.

These are the type of good men we've been asking to step up and help us fight this war.

"One comment I heard was that Mumsnet is 'notoriously anti-trans' and all this is stemming from ultra-right wing and US-based origins."

And as if to prove the point you post a link to a "trAnS pEoplE aRe baD" story by a US republican.

I asked Hearach15 for the quote [from this thread] saying the existence of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or trans people was a child safety concern. Because I had not seen anyone talking about the ‘existence’ per se of any people coming under these classifications being a child safety concern.

Hearch’s remark was simply a moral blackmail shut-down technique.

What has Posie Parker to do with my question?

Hearach15· Today 17:50”

^RoseslnTheHospital · Today 14:43
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.^

A man in a dress and wig is not a child safety concern. Generations of British kids have been to panto plays and been fine.

Sorry you feel the existence of LGBT people is a child safety concern, you should meet more of us

There is no such thing as ‘an’ LGBT person - all rolled into one. This umbrella term is a tiresome and meaningless conflation.

This thread is about transvestites (one subgroup of the trans classification) being brought along to ‘entertain’ children.

How long do you think they will keep booking these events if zero people turned up?

Personally I am not interested in drag at all. I am more concerned by the principle that in a free society people would seek to ban something than others derive enjoyment from.

A man wearing a skirt is not a threat to children. Have you ever been to Scotland?

"I really really really hate the fact that the people protesting at the library seem like right wing nut jobs."

This is because they are right wing nut jobs.

Why do you stupidly persist with calling drag acts "men in skirts" when no one else is doing so? Drag queen /= "man in skirt". You are the only one who is saying this.

And I think library managers will book according to their current requirements as passed down by policy setters. Policy setters will be influenced by all sorts of things that aren't "market forces".

I think that there is unlikely to be any formal way of properly assessing how many people attend a free event that doesn't require booking.

"There is no such thing as ‘an’ LGBT person - all rolled into one. This umbrella term is a tiresome and meaningless conflation."

The umbrella term you so object to is widely understood and used by lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans people.

"This thread is about transvestites (one subgroup of the trans classification) being brought along to ‘entertain’ children."

Never heard of a straight drag queen myself (I'm sure one or two must exist out there though). If they were straight though I have no doubt less people would object.

They called Aida H Dee a sex worker, they haven't stuck to the facts and gone to such extremes that local people think DQST should go ahead and shouldn't bow to nazis. This polarisation isn't helping the vast majority of people. You end up thinking, whose side seems worst to appear on.

I don't think that anyone is attempting to ban so-called 'drag'. What is happening is a demand that it be kept well away from children.

Unfortunately, 'Drag Race' on TV seems to have served unwittingly to groom some adults to believe that 'drag' is fine, because the TV performances were not as sexualised. Hence they think it is relatively safe to take their kids, until they get there and discover how sexualised it can be.

All this 'drag' stuff seems to have sprung up from the exposure of 'drag' on TV and some men have spotted an opportunity.

One also has to ask the question why do these men want to be close to children all of a sudden? In the past, men have never run a tour of Story Time in libraries across the country except, perhaps, a favourite author of children's books reading bits of his own stories.

A man wearing a skirt is not a threat to children. Have you ever been to Scotland?

It's not a fucking skirt it is a Kilt.

A lot of men are a threat to children no matter what they choose to wear, unfortunately they don't come with a handy label saying whether they are or not.

Drag is adult entertainment, it is an extreme mocking parody of women it is not suitable for children at all. What 'diversity' is drag promoting exactly? How to mock and denigrate women perchance?

A recent drag act has been permanently banned from the National Theatre for a comment they made regarding teaching children to 'open their legs'. No group is above scrutiny or criticism.

Hearach15 · Today 20:44

“RoseslnTheHospital · Today 19:32
The idea of "market forces" applying to decisions made by library managers is particularly incorrect.”

How long do you think they will keep booking these events if zero people turned up?

Sadly some parents think that public libraries must have children’s best interests at heart. They will take their cue from them.

Other parents might think it is progressive.

I wonder whether the libraries in question are also offering alternative story times? If they are, it would be interesting to know what the different take up for each kind is.

Market forces are driven by ad campaigns and many do harm. Lots of local councils are internally riven by Stonewall campaigns and that would include library staff.