Drag Queens in Schools – Where Parents Have No Say By Edwin Benson

Drag Queens in Schools – Where Parents Have No Say

By Edwin Benson

Promoters of “Drag Queen Story Hours” criticize those who protest at tax-payer supported libraries. They claim that if parents are upset, they should not take their children to the events. No one is forcing them to go, they say. It is their freedom to go or not to go.

Such a claim is no longer valid. The “Drag Queen Story Hour” is moving from libraries into primary schools. Journalists Michael Foust and Shane Trejo report about one such event in a school in New York City. Sohrab Ahmari, the op-ed editor for the New York Post and a convert to Catholicism, broke the story.

It appears the school shows have been happening for some time. Only now have they appeared on the radar.  Mr. Ahmari used his Twitter account to duplicate a message sent to parents by the school. It reads, “In an effort to continue to strengthen and enhance diversity in our school, the first grade will be taking part in a “Drag Queen Story Hour!” …We had a Drag Queen Story Hour the past few years at PS118 and the 1^st graders LOVED IT!”

Mr. Trejo’s article quoted a school e-mail that provided details to the parents. “Drag Queen Story Hour is run by a drag queen who will visit our school on Monday, February 24. She will read to the students, all while teaching into ideas of inclusiveness, gender fluidity and gender roles, family structures, acceptance, empathy and individuality…. We are so excited to bring this to our classrooms. I know the children will learn a lot and enjoy it as much as they did last year.”

The School and its Ideology

There is nothing special about P.S. 118. Known as Maurice Sendak Community School, it is in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. It gets its name from a prolific author of children’s books who was born and grew up in Brooklyn. The school occupies a building that once was home to Saint Thomas Aquinas parish school, which closed in 2005.

P.S. 118 opened in 2013. On its principal’s page, Principal Elizabeth Garraway sounds like everything that progressive education prizes. “Ms. Garraway’s greatest strength may lie in her ability to productively engage with a wide range of ‘constituents’ …..As a strong advocate for the value of diversity, Ms. Garraway’s warmth, strong work ethic, and genuine desire to collaborate models best practices.”

Redefining Deviancy

The Drag Queen Story Hour consists of men garishly dressed as women reading homosexual-oriented and related literature to young children.

Not even ten years ago, the fact that someone might propose a drag queen story hour at primary schools would be considered absurd. Forcing “gender fluidity” upon first graders would be considered child abuse, not education.

However, modern society prides itself on redefining deviant sexual behavior. It all started with cohabitation between unmarried men and women as acceptable. Later, homosexuality was presented as a “lifestyle choice.” Such behaviors began to be celebrated in movies and media. The canons of “diversity” soon demanded acceptance as the equivalent of traditional moral conduct.

Today the cutting edge of the sexual revolution is found in the Drag Queen Story Hours. Suddenly, the self-appointed arbiters of acceptable behavior advocate the idea that children should be exposed to as many “choices” as possible. As one drag queen said at a public hearing in Lafayette, La., the shows are meant to “groom” future generations to come.

Schools as Protectors

Both public and parochial schools used to protect children from such deviancy. The standards of dress, speech and decorum for teachers was high. The school was to be a haven of order. The children’s innocence was regarded as vital to proper moral development. Children needed protection from situations that they could not possibly understand. Few elements of this attitude remain.

Today any sense that children deserve protection from sexual impurity invites ridicule. Teachers in “health” classes dispense detailed information about physical intimacy and methods of contraception. When President Obama’s position on “transgender” students had sufficiently “evolved,” he sent out a “Dear Colleague” letter demanding that schools allow biological males to enter and use girls’ restrooms and locker rooms. Is it any wonder that drag queens now appear at primary schools?

The fact is that Drag Queen Story Hours are now being forced upon children. The old argument those who disagree can opt out no longer holds. These events are being mainstreamed into the culture. They steamroll over protesting parents.

Remember, it’s not about libraries anymore. Drag queen shows promoting “gender fluidity” and other outrages will soon be coming to a school around you.