7/14/2023 0 Comments Drag queen story hourWhen the library in San Lorenzo, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco, held its first Drag Queen Story Hour four years ago, people prayed across the street in protest, said Alameda County librarian Cindy Chadwick. Other organizations with readers in drag have also formed.Īs part of Drag Queen Story Hour’s programming, drag queens read to children and their parents at libraries, bookstores, fairs, parks and other public spaces to celebrate reading “through the glamorous art of drag.” ![]() Chapters have since opened across the U.S. “All this feels different and very real, and it feels a bit scarier.”ĭrag Queen Story Hour, a nonprofit, was started in San Francisco in 2015 by activist and author Michelle Tea. That’s unfortunately just part of our existence,” Hamilt said. “Being a part of the LGBT community and a queer person in general, we’ve always experienced hate and slurs and homophobia and transphobia. The reading groups have faced pushback from the beginning, but the recent vitriol is new, said Jonathan Hamilt, executive director of Drag Queen Story Hour and the co-founder of the New York chapter. The organizers said they will enhance security but won’t stop their programs. ![]() ![]() Organizers of the story hours say that social media accounts are fueling the backlash and that opponents claiming they want to protect children are actually scaring and endangering them. Outside Chicago, protesters harass parents attending storytime with their children and proclaim that the staff operating the event came “from the devil.”Īnd in a San Francisco suburb, men invade Panda Dulce’s reading at a library’s Drag Queen Story Hour, shouting homophobic and transphobic slurs.Īfter focusing on transgender athletes and youths, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric is now targeting drag storytimes - conceived as a way to educate and entertain children by appealing to their imaginations - with interruptions and other protests reported across the country in the past two weeks, since Pride Month began. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Protesters pray outside a library in New York City as Flame, a drag queen sporting a bright wig and a red gown, entertains the children inside by singing the ABCs, leading a coloring activity and reading books about how it’s OK to be different.
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