Drag Queen Storytime/Hour
Week five of our Storytelling course included an article about Drag Queen Story Times. (See below for article) This reading spoke to me. I consider myself to be a person that embraces diversity so my reaction to this reading was positive. I loved the idea! As a mother and teacher, I want my children and students to embrace and celebrate people's differences. The picture above is from Drag Queen Storytime at the JFK Library in Vallejo California. One of the attendees, Tom Bilbo of the Solano Pride Center said, "This is about showing kids that there are all kinds of different people in the world and to embrace diversity.”
Although I am an advocate for diverse events like Drag Queen Storytime, some people are not. In fact, this event has made national news because it is so controversial. Most libraries that have held this event, are bombarded with outraged picketers. (See articles and video below.) Perhaps if these individuals knew more about the program and its benefits, they would feel differently.
Vallejo Library's Drag Queen Storytime
People Protesting Drag Queen Story Hour Met By Counter-Protesters
After reading about protests, I wanted to learn more about the events. I found a fantastic video on YouTube that explained the mission of these events in detail and how much they meant to the storytellers and their audience. Please take a look...
This remains to be a controversial event, but appears to be popping up in more libraries around the country. What are your thoughts? Is this appropriate for libraries? Is it more or less acceptable to have books about drag queens? What message is being sent to patrons? I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comment section.
Royce, E., Chambers, H., & Cummings, M. G. (2020). Auntie uncle: Drag queen hero. Pow!
What is Drag Queen Story Hour? Drag Queen Story Hour. (2021, November 2). Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org/.
YouTube. (2018). Drag Queen Story Hour. YouTube. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfJNRFB6E-A.
YouTube. (2020). The Drag Queens Reading To Kids in Libraries | them. YouTube. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy7Oj4fSzuI&t=34s.
Hey Tiffany, your blogpost caught my eye because I recently looked into drag queen story times for another class I am in!
ReplyDeleteDrag queen story times help make libraries an all inclusive space for everyone in the community. It is a form of intellectual freedom and must be defended by the backlash it is receiving! A great time to do drag queen story times is during banned books week or Pride Month. I found out that the most challenged picture books of all time are those featuring LGBTQ characters and themes. It is unfortunate. Almost all of the 2019 top challenged books according to the Office of Intellectual Freedom were those displaying LGBTQ characters and themes. You did a great job bringing light to this topic with your post! Thank you for sharing, I enjoyed the videos!
This really caught my eye, as the state of South Carolina is in uproar. Our governor issued a statement this week about removing "phonography" from our SC school library shelves. The book that brought this about is the book "Gender Queer: A Memoir". Come to find out, this book is not in any of the Charleston County School District libraries, even though most libraries do have an LGBTQ+ section and/or displays. The point to to be inclusive. We need to make sure that ALL students can see themselves represented and celebrated. We have come to far to not be inclusive and welcoming to all.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing and highlighting this groundbreaking venture in reading!
~LIZ
I want to commend you for drawing attention to this article. I also thought it was a very interesting read. This world is still in conflict with the LGBTQ community and it is alarming. Our goal as librarians is to be inclusive! I hope that in the near future that doors are open for people to be exposed to the "real" world. It is a personal preference so people have the choice to act accordingly. However, no one person or persons can make that decision for us all.
ReplyDelete