New York City spends over $200K on DRAG SHOWS for CHILDREN, records reveal!
Drag Story Hour NYC, a children's event where drag queens read stories to students, has earned nearly a quarter-million dollars from the city’s taxpayers in the last four years, according to a recent record stated by the New York Post.
Since the start of this year, the group, whose cross-dressed performers interact with children as young as three, has so far organized 49 drag shows at public schools, street festivals, and libraries. In May, the group, previously known as Drag Queen Story Hour NYC, earned $46,000 from city contracts for appearances at venues where children are the prime audience and received a total of $207,000 in taxpayer money since 2018, according to reports.
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The tally includes $50,000 from New York State through its Council on the Arts, along with $157,000 from the city’s Departments of Education, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Community Development, and even the Department of Transportation.
Drag Story Hour's website mentions performing for students at dozens of schools across the city and asks for donations to continue “bringing free and low-cost Drag Story Hour programs to NYC public schools.”
It further reads, "In May, we launched Reading with Royalty, our new middle grade and YA book discussion program for middle and high school students, with discussion questions on five of our favorite queer middle grade and YA books. This year, we have also provided four paid trainings for our drag storytellers, on topics ranging from working with older adults to redefining beauty in drag. But we need your support to continue providing quality free and low-cost programs for public schools. It costs us $600 to produce each DSH program, but we only charge public schools $300 per program, and we offer a limited number of free programs for schools that can’t afford the fee."
Drag shows in schools
In April, drag queen Harmonica Sunbeam wore a slinky gown to meet with kindergarteners at STAR Academy in Manhattan and read pages from 'The Dragtivity Book,' which encourages children to choose their pronouns and invent drag names. Parents revealed that the school gave them a heads-up but there was no way to opt their kids out of it.
In another instance, Libs of TikTok obtained footage of a school drag show that happened in Ankeny High School in May. In one video, a performer is seen on stage in a revealing one-piece black bodysuit, with much of his buttocks visible. As he dances in a burlesque stripper-like manner, he continuously draws focus to his crotch area, showing off with splits and upside-down maneuvers that mirror strip-tease style dances. The tweet quickly garnered widespread attention, with over 10k likes and more than 5,000 re-shares. The school swiftly responded to the allegations and said that while it took place at an approved school club, the show itself was not approved by the school authorities. They also noted that they were investigating the matter.
At the GSA meeting yesterday, performers from the Central Iowa Youth Pride Pageant shared a drag performance at AHS after school. While the GSA is an approved school club, this performance was not approved by the building administration, and it is currently under investigation.
— Ankeny High School Activities (@Ankeny_Hawks) May 24, 2022
