Drag Queen Story Hour

Drag Queen Story Hour
Barbada de Barbades reading books to children at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec in 2018.
GenreChildren's event
Location(s)Public libraries
Inaugurated2015 (2015)
FounderMichelle Tea
Participants
Activity
People
Websitewww.dragstoryhour.org

Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH), Drag Queen Storytime, Drag Story Time, and Drag Story Hour are children's events first started in 2015 by author and activist Michelle Tea in San Francisco with the goals of promoting reading and diversity.[1][2][3] The events, usually geared for children aged 3–11, are hosted by drag queens who read children’s books, and engage in other learning activities in public libraries.[4][5][6]

Jonathan Hamilt, who co-founded the New York chapter as a nonprofit, said that as of June 2019, DSH has 35 U.S. and five international chapters.[7] The program strives to "capture the imagination and play of gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models".[8]

Drag Story Hour events have caused public debate over the suitability of drag for child audiences. Critics say it contributes to the “sexualization” or “grooming” of children; proponents argue that these complaints amount to a "moral panic" and anti-LGBT prejudice spurred on by "right-wing misinformation".[9][10][11][12] The backlash against such events has been responsible for the popularization of the term "drag panic", modelled after the older term "gay panic".

  1. ^ "Drag Queen Story Hour brings pride and glamor to libraries across U.S." NBC News. 19 June 2018. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  2. ^ Griffin, Julia (July 2, 2019). "Drag Queen Story Hour offers a different kind of page-turner". PBS NewsHour. Archived from the original on 2019-08-25. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
  3. ^ Kenny, Oison (January 27, 2020). "Drag Race alumni speak out against Drag Story Time criticism". Gay Community News. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  4. ^ McCormick, Erin (June 13, 2017). "'Are you a boy or a girl'? Drag Queen Story Hour riles the right, but delights kids". Theguardian.com. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  5. ^ "Why You Really Need to Take Your Kid to Drag Queen Storytime". Phillymag.com. July 24, 2019. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  6. ^ "'I'm just trying to make the world a little brighter': how the culture wars hijacked Drag Queen Story Hour". The Guardian. 2022-08-11. Archived from the original on 2023-01-01. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
  7. ^ Stack, Liam (June 6, 2019). "Drag Queen Story Hour Continues Its Reign at Libraries, Despite Backlash". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  8. ^ Quinlan, Casey (August 31, 2019). "How 'Straight Pride' parades like the one in Boston mask a far-right agenda – ThinkProgress". ThinkProgress. Archived from the original on 2019-09-01. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  9. ^ "Tennessee governor signs drag show restrictions into law". PBS NewsHour. March 2, 2023. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  10. ^ Tannehill, Brynn (January 12, 2023). "The Moral Panic We Cannot Ignore". Dame Magazine. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  11. ^ "The Moral Panic We Cannot Ignore - Dame Magazine". www.damemagazine.com. 2023-01-12. Archived from the original on 2024-04-01. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  12. ^ MacGuill, Dan (2017-10-18). "Did a Drag Queen in a 'Demonic' Outfit Read a Sexually Explicit Book to Children at a Public Library?". Snopes. Archived from the original on 2023-12-02. Retrieved 2023-12-01.