Tomorrow, London’s Newham council are to host another 'Drag Queen Story Time' for under-5’s, to be held in the Newham Public Library, an area of London known for a high percentage of Muslim residents.
The announcement on Twitter for these events said:
“The first of our Drag Queen Story Times for under 5s & their parents & carers at @NewhamLibraries this #LGBTHM20 is on Friday,” “Come & listen to fabulous stories, beautifully told.” The London Council went on to say: “By providing spaces in which kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions, Drag Queen Story Time allows children to imagine the world in which people can present as they wish,” the Newham Council states on their website. “Where dress up is real.”
This event is not the first of its kind in the UK; Lambeth, another London Council who have a high population of Muslims, previously held one of these events. Tweets from it showed a man with a beard dressed as a woman reading to children. Other Council's around the country are planning similar events this year and, if the LGBTQ community get their way, these will become regular features in public libraries around the country.
Drag Queen Story Time, is a children’s events first started in 2015 by author and activist Michelle Tea in San Francisco with the goals to “inspire a love of reading, while teaching deeper lessons on diversity, self-love and an appreciation of others.
Since its inception just four years ago, Drag Queen Story Times have been held right across the United States and it was only a matter of time before Progressive Councils in Britain adopted the idea. However, the US events have not been without controversy as opponents have regularly protested outside, religious groups have called for the events to cease, and one. group has taken out a lawsuit to prevent further events taking place in any municipal buildings in the city.
In one US event a registered child sex offender was reading to children at Houston Public Library as part of its Drag Queen Storytime. A group called Mass Resistance, which has been trying to put an end to the program, contacted KHOU about the child sex offender … A media spokesperson for the library confirmed one of the program’s drag queens, Tatiana Mala Nina, is Alberto [sic] Garza, a 32-year-old child sex offender. In 2008, he was convicted of assaulting an 8-year-old boy.
It is unclear if UK Councils are doing any background checks on those taking part but a confirmed case of a pedophile performing at one of these events in the US has only served to convince opponents that these events are not appropriate and should be stopped under child protection rules.
Vision News Online