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Who started Drag Story Hour? How an author created a safe space for children to learn about LGBTQIA+ topics

The first Drag Story Hour took place in San Francisco in 2015 and the event is now held in several other nations

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: The concept of a drag queen story hour for children is becoming more and more common in nations like the US and Japan, but they are also being met with ferocious opposition. The purpose of a the event is to teach children about a variety of role models, including LGBTQIA+ people. However, critics believe they confuse and sexualize young audiences, although the organizers of these events vehemently refute these charges.

The San Francisco Bay Area, a longtime refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, can be credited with the emergence of drag queen story hour. A Market Street bookstore held what it called "America’s first drag queen storytime" a decade ago, and it was unlike the tall tales stories the political right and conservatives peddled, alleging the sexualization of children. It just involved a drag queen in full costume reading stories to children.

Who started Drag Story Hour?

In 2015, Michelle Tea started the Drag Story Hour in San Francisco. Tea was a new mother who, like any other parent, hoped to instill a love of reading in their child. After attending a children's reading program at a local library, she started considering organizing reading sessions that would seem more welcoming to queer parents like her.

Tea is an author, poet and literary arts advocate. She was born Michelle Tomasik in 1971. Her autobiographical work explores queer culture, socioeconomic status and sex work among other topics. 

According to Tea, she developed the idea as a child-friendly approach to expose her young son to the LGBTQIA+ culture. For the first Drag Story Hour event, a queen by the name of Per Sia was chosen to serve as the event's main attraction. It took place at the San Francisco Public Library. The non-profit organization Drag Story Hour was thus founded.

According to Huff Post, Tea had already established the literary arts organization RADAR Productions in 2003, to elevate marginalized voices, and she had also published a number of books. This non-profit conducted events to highlight the works of queer authors and artists. She was the Creative Director at RADAR before resigning in 2015.

Tea told Thomson Reuters Foundation at the time, "Children love larger than life, magical characters, and drag queens have the biggest hearts and most creative minds." Since then, these events have expanded to other nations as well, including Britain, Canada, Sweden, Japan and Australia. Every regional or national chapter is independently run and supported.

What is a Drag Story Hour?

Children's books are read out by drag queens to children and their families. There are LGBTQIA+ characters in several of the books that are read. These events, which are frequently held at public libraries and bookstores, are meant for children between the ages of three and 11.

There are now Drag Story Hour events happening everywhere. Some are unauthorized offshoots that were motivated by the original, while others are official chapters. The focus is on tales that support LGBTQIA+ issues and acceptance, but the readings include a variety of novels suitable for young children.

While Drag Story Hour hosts countless drag storytime gatherings across the nation, many more are the outcomes of the efforts of devoted libraries or bookshop owners who desire to offer beneficial services for their communities.

Drag Story Hour draws criticism and protests

Drag Story Hpur has sparked criticism, and several Republican legislators in the US have vowed to take efforts to outlaw them entirely. Drag shows, according to critics, were intrinsically sexual, and young children in kindergarten and first grade shouldn't be exposed to LGBTQIA+ concepts. Some of the demonstrations have been associated with far-right political organizations, like Gays Against Groomers and the Proud Boys, which oppose what they call the "sexualization" of youngsters and transgender healthcare for children.

Conservative critics of Drag Story Hour have claimed that the shows groom young children and have even coined the term "grooming" to characterize what takes place at these child-friendly gatherings. In response to these allegations, Tea said, "The protests (are) just so sad. I feel very bad for anyone whose hearts and minds are so cranky, paranoid and impoverished that they would feel motivated to try to crush something so joyful. But they're giving all of us parents a lot of teaching moments, which is valuable."