Last week Missouri lawmaker Ben Baker introduced legislation that would give a parental advisory board final say over library events and would penalize libraries that expose children to material that is not age-appropriate. This bill is being proposed in response to Drag Queen Story Hour events, a phenomenon that began in San Francisco in 2015, and within the next few years made its way across the country. The popularity of these events across the country last summer drew widespread attention to their problematic nature.
Here in Minnesota, Hennepin County libraries scheduled fifteen “Stories Together With Drag Performers” events in 2019. At one of these events, the performer wore a miniskirt with his legs spread at eye-level with the children he was reading to. This is not the only time that these events have gotten out of hand. Last summer photos of a drag queen story hour event at a Portland library showed children lying on top of drag queens in a sexual manner. The photos were taken down shortly after they began to draw attention online. And as Libby Emmons pointed out, there would have been no reason to remove the photos had they been innocent. Emmons goes on to write of the event,
…photos of kids laying atop grown men who are wearing sexualized female costumes, and encouraging gender fluidity gives truth to the lie that drag story hour isn’t about sexuality or sexualizing children. Children are drawn to sparkles and glitter, and using those things to make sexuality seem like mere play is nothing more than grooming kids to be sexual objects, not participants.
It is not fear-mongering to say that children are being sexualized at these events. These events really put children’s safety at risk, and there is no acceptable reason for parents or libraries to hold these events.
In their regular performances, drag performers present an exaggerated and distorted caricature of women for the sake of the sexual arousal of their audience. It is not only inappropriate and dangerous to expose children to this kind of sexualized entertainment, but it is also troubling that so many parents would flock to an event that makes such a mockery of femininity.
While parents and activists alike have flooded the events under the banner of inclusivity and progress, a drag performer known as Kitty Demure recently called out parents for their involvement in these events. “I have no idea why you want drag queens to read books to your children,” he said. “What… has a drag queen ever done to make you have so much respect for them and admire them so much?” In his video, Demure points out that there is nothing about drag that is appropriate for children. “A drag queen performs in a nightclub for adults… and backstage, there’s a lot of nudity, sex, and drugs… I don’t think this is an avenue you would want your child to explore…. To actually get [your children] involved in drag is extremely… irresponsible on your part.”
The New York Times said of the events, “To the program coordinators, children and drag queens are an obvious pairing.” Supposing the event had been “Stripper Story Hour” or “Prostitute Story Hour,” would the Times have seen adult entertainers and children as an obvious pairing?
Ultimately, these events are not for kids, not simply because there is no good reason to expose children to adult entertainers, but also because they are not for or about the kids from the perspective of the event organizers, they are about the proliferation of a radical sexual agenda. As one librarian notes, the choice to host Drag Queen Story Hours is hardly neutral. “Every program we offer or don't offer, every book we shelve or don't shelve, is a stance… Libraries, as long as they are run by human beings, will always have some sort of mission.” These events are intentionally chosen for the sake of promoting certain ideas and values. That program organizers are willing to do so at the expense of children is horrifying. Baker is right in proposing legislation to stop this. Let’s hope other states, including Minnesota, will follow suit.
