What The Frock? Drag Queen Story Hour Identified as Global Threat!
Climate Emergency? War In Ukraine? Why are some people convinced that Drag Queens are Threatening the World?
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My first experience of drag was very niche. I was 7 years old and I went to see a pantomime that was staged in the social club of Dungeness Nuclear Power Station. Now 45 years later it appears more people are protesting about the frocks than the fission. The times they are a’ changing and drag has become another hideous stop in the never ending story of culture wars. The right wing screamers are particularly opposed to drag queens reading stories to kids because ‘they indoctrinate and sexualise children' according to extremist and former Fox News blowhard Tucker Carlson. This rhetoric has fanned the flames of hate resulting in physical intimidation and threats to performers and audiences who just want to sit with their 4 year olds in a public library on a Saturday morning and listen to a story. Supporters of drag queen story hour say that it helps kids understand diversity and difference and can be especially helpful to LGBTQ+ kids struggling to understand their identities. Before we all start shouting over each other let’s get some perspective with a little background!
Here in the UK drag is a part of our national culture and theatre heritage. Everybody who has ever read a book knows that in Shakespeare’s time (and before) women could not appear on stage so male actors played female roles. Every Winter millions of people go to see a Pantomime in which the panto dame is a comic female role played by a male actor and is often the star of the show. Until recently, the Prince Charming type character was played by a female actor in tights and thigh length boots who would fall in love with a female character played by a female actor! This role was known as the Principal Boy even though it was always played by a girl - I performed in a production of Cinderella that had twins (Alison and Rebecca Marsh) playing the Prince and his (her) best friend Dandini. It sounds bizarre but nobody was confused, kids did not ask awkward questions and we all went home happy! There is a really insightful history of British Pantomime by written by Sian Ellis here:
Christmas at the British Pantomime
Drag clearly has many shapes and forms which is how the right wing culture warriors are able to muddy the waters. But they are relying on a ton of ignorance to make their point and like to use the argument that drag sexualises children because some drag shows contain sexual humour. This is like saying that because some comedians tell sexual jokes then we should never take kids to a comedy show.
There is also a massive dose of homophobia in the protests which equate Queer with being attracted to kids. This is the nastiest, most twisted and most perverse of the objections and one that springs from the same well that saw thousands of women executed for ‘witchcraft’ in the Middle Ages. Fact based protest has been replaced by fear driven movements whose participants say “I don’t care what the facts are because I believe this anyway” I am waiting for the protests against Jersey Boys because it features a man singing in a high voice ‘like a girl’ which will obviously turn boys gay, trans or liberal!
It is also worth noting that this opposition picks on private individuals who are literally just doing their job. In popular culture Medea has made Tyler Perry a billionaire and in the movie Hairspray John Travolta dragged up to play a female identifying character who was bringing up a very clever, loving and self assured daughter. But there are no protestors outside Travolta’s house or airfield and Perry got more grief for helping Harry and Meghan than dressing as a woman! And that’s before we get to Tootsie, Mrs Doubtfire (hired as a nanny!) Little Britain, Katherine Tate or Tracey Ullman. So power is a big part of this protest - it incites those who may feel powerless and lets them attack those with even less power.
Politicians are loving this too. In Wales, Conservative politician and ‘farmers daughter’ Laura Anne Jones (who has never had a job outside of politics!) pretended to be shocked that Drag Queen Aida HD spoke to 11-16 year old kids at a secondary school. Ms Jones, who was Monmouthshire’s County Armed Forces Champion said ‘Our children deserve far better than to have a known highly sexualised and biased individual coming in to indoctrinate them’. Of course the armed forces have no challenges with sex or bias and would never seek to indoctrinate anyone! The Government’s own inspectors said the school concerned was an example of best practice on LGBT issues in a guide for other schools on promoting inclusion.
But just because we can mock the protestors and ridicule their views it does not make their political and physical intimidation any less dangerous. It also means that the other side needs to get their arguments right and there is a little bit of work to do there as well.
Drag Queen Story Hour started in 2015 in San Francisco as a way of increasing positive representation into kid’s education. The concept is very simple: a Drag Queen reads some stories to young kids and their parents in a library, school or similar setting. In the UK Drag Queen Story Hour is run by Aida HD (geddit?!) who has also written three children’s books which she reads during story hour. The books have some good life lessons. For example, Three Goats United introduces kids to a brown, black and pink goat who learn how to work together to stand up to a bully. My First Pride follows a young boy on his first Pride parade and explains what he discovers. The third book, Its Snot A Problem, is about two female hedgehogs who are in love and also involves snot which is clearly a winner with kids!
These are easy to understand concepts that show kids that there are many different types of people in the world and that’s ok.
The argument that Drag Queen Story Hour is all about representation is positive but we have to be careful when we say that Drag is ONLY a Queer thing. For example there are male actors who play panto dames who are not gay. Nobody suggests that Tracey Ullman playing Michael Gove means that she is a lesbian!
So while one part or style of drag, in the Ru Paul Drag Race or Pose style, has become a form of expression for some LGBTQ+ people, we should be careful in assuming that Drag represents an entire community and that it only belongs to that community. A drag queen may be as representative of some gay men as Arnold Schwarzenegger is to some straight men! I am a straight man and I think Arnie’s great but I’d much rather watch an hour of Lily Savage (RIP) than an hour of ‘Twins’ to get my laughs!
Sab Samuels who plays Aida HD puts it really well:
“In essence, this (DQSH) is not about altering someone’s sexuality or gender identity; it’s about cultivating an atmosphere of understanding, compassion, and acceptance within society. By including diverse stories in the media, we contribute to creating a world in which everyone, irrespective of their gender identity or sexual orientation, can feel recognized and valued. We may never fully comprehend the extent to which a simple act of inclusivity and understanding can change or even save a life.”
I don’t want to sound shallow but…. let’s not forget that one of the biggest strengths of Drag Queen Story hour is that it is entertaining. And the danger we face in defending Drag Queen Story Hour from a moral perspective is that we forget that part - the entertaining part, the fun, the giggles, the throwing in the air of tiny excited hands. Kids love it and this is a show for kids in the same way as a clown show or kids magician - this is a powerful argument because who doesn’t want to make their kids happy?
We need to get to a place where we can move the argument away from should ‘Drag Queen Story Hour exist?’ to ‘how do we make Drag Queen Story Hour the best experience it can possibly be?’ The most obvious way to do that is by showing up to support your local drag events and enjoying them - and there are some UK links below.
The world is the hottest it has ever been, a mad dictator is hovering his shaky finger over the nuclear destruction button and a group of obsessed, aggressive loud mouths think that the solution is to threaten Drag Queens! Seriously? What the Actual Frock!
Thank you for reading and please check out the links below for more information on Drag Queen Story Hour or to find someone to talk to about your sexuality. If you enjoyed the piece I would love you to subscribe to The Jason Ward Creative Substack. Subscription is currently free of charge and, in return, you will have access to over 70 articles and podcasts with new content arriving on a weekly basis! Thank you.
Find out more about Drag Queen Story Hour UK at
https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.co.uk
If you would like to talk to someone about your sexuality or gender you can get in touch with Switchboard (in the UK) free of charge on:
0800 0119 100
Open 10:00-22:00 every day
hello@switchboard.lgbt