Maureen, Teacher in Los Angeles County, Condemns Drag Queen Story Hour (And Why!)

Last night my friend confessed to me that her 9-year-old son is dressing up in drag! She told me this is a new behavior of his since she recently attended a neighborhood local library's, Drag Queen Story Hour. She continued to tell me that he used to like to play with Legos and build things. Now, he is questioning if he is a boy or girl. She is devastated. How many more children are out there confused about who they are after being exposed to the Drag Queen Story Hour?

I am a concerned parent. I have friends who are drag queens and members of the LGBTQ community as I use to be a model and actress living in Hollywood in my 20s. I met people from all walks of life. Never have I felt annoyed about alternative lifestyles until now. I have done a lot of soul searching about why I am now feeling upset with this community. On one hand, I empathize with their need to feel accepted in mainstream society. I get it. After years of bullying from others and feeling less than, they are fighting back, organizing, getting their message of “accept me for who I am” out there in the public sphere. On the the other hand, their message of, we need to "groom the next generation," as the drag queen, Joe Faragher, recently put it, is frightening, upsetting, and disturbing because it puts ideas into children's heads that they can't yet process or fully comprehend.

Children have lower executive functioning skills than adults. They think concretely or in black  and white. They are not able to discern for themselves about gender identity and what it truly means to be a man or woman, much less to be a man dressed up as a provocatively dressed  female. Do you think it's healthy for children to be exposed to this? To me, it really is a no-brainer and not a political question, it's plain psychology. 

I believe that purposefully confusing children about sexual identity, male and female gender roles, and unhealthy lifestyles is more of an agenda coming from the LGBTQ activist community to put ideas in children's heads that are destructive, not constructive.

So what's the solution? Should we allow drag queens to teach literacy in neighborhood libraries so they can normalize the drag queen lifestyle to make themselves feel better, or should we teach the social construct of tolerance to children by using healthy role models in society such as librarians and teachers who are credentialed to do so. Also, children need less complex tolerance curriculum in which to learn from, rather than drag queen curriculum. Maybe learning about Helen Keller would be a good starting point. The idea of teaching a child tolerance and love and acceptance should not jeopardize a child's capability of understanding themselves, just to make a drag queen feel better. Who is this really about anyway? 

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/07/20/drag-queen-story-hour-draws-protests-in-el-segundo/