By Lil Miss Hot Mess, author of the children's books "If You're a Drag Queen and You Know It"As a children's book author and member of Drag Queen Story Hour, an international program in which drag performers read books to children in libraries and beyond, my work has been routinely challenged.
From protests outside events to hate mail in my inbox, I have to be especially careful about my privacy and safety (which is why I use my drag name publicly rather than my legal name). While I have grown used to backlash from conservative groups, I am disturbed by the recent mainstreaming of overtly anti-LGBTQ and racist discourse, especially legislative attacks on trans kids, attempts to falsely discredit queer people as "groomers" and efforts to ban books with diverse themes.
In a horrific turn of events, last weekend a group allegedly linked to the Proud Boys showed up at a story hour to harass and threaten organizers and performers in San Lorenzo, California. While performer Panda Dulce ultimately finished the reading, disruptions like this are both terrifying and terrorizing — traumatizing the very children that vigilantes claim to protect.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/drag-queens-story-hour-goes-on-rcna34169[youtube autoplay=1]
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