RESOURCES & FAQs
What is drag?
Drag is a form of performance and costume based art, similar to theater, pageantry, or playing a character. Performers use clothing, makeup, and storytelling to explore different roles, personalities, or styles in a creative way. Many drag performers also participate in community events, parades, and volunteer activities.
There are many styles of drag, just as there are many styles of performance. What matters most is that it is creative, voluntary, and meant to entertain and express imagination, much like dressing up for a play or a parade.
Are drag performers dangerous?
No. This claim is inaccurate. Drag Story Hour is a literacy based program that uses performance and storytelling, long standing traditions in libraries and classrooms, to engage children’s imagination and love of reading. All programming is age appropriate and designed with the same care and standards expected of any children’s educational event.
Parents, librarians, and educators consistently share positive feedback, noting that these programs create welcoming, well supervised environments where children are encouraged to be kind, curious, and respectful of one another.
Our work is about reading, creativity, and helping children feel safe and supported as they grow. We believe families and communities are best served by programs that foster understanding, encourage learning, and allow every child the freedom to be themselves without fear or shame.
Does this promote an agenda?
Our agenda is simple: we believe that people of all ages should be free to express themselves however they want, free from the constraints of prescribed gender roles. In other words, there’s no such thing as “girl clothes” and “boy clothes,” or “girl toys” and “boy toys.” DSH teaches children that there are many ways to express themselves and their gender, and they are all OK. Of course, drag is an art form that is rooted in diverse LGBTQ communities, and we support equality, justice, and respect for all people—for us, that’s just a given. Given that LGBTQ people are present in every community, we believe that children deserve to experience these aspects of our shared history and culture, in age appropriate ways. Any insinuation that we have an agenda to indoctrinate children misunderstands LGBTQ experiences and is rooted in homophobia and transphobia.
Why is this necessary?
Drag Story Hour helps children build empathy, understand that people can be different from one another, and express creativity in healthy ways. For many kids, especially those who feel left out, misunderstood, or unseen, these experiences can be deeply meaningful. By showing children that there is more than one way to be yourself and still be respected, DSH offers reassurance and belonging to kids from many kinds of families and backgrounds.
Should kids be exposed to gender fluidity?
From a young age, children naturally use imagination and play to understand who they are and how they fit into the world. This kind of exploration is a normal part of growing up. At the same time, children often receive strong messages about how they are “supposed” to behave, what they should like, and what paths are acceptable to them. Drag Story Hour encourages kids to be confident in their interests, respectful of others, and comfortable being themselves. By reinforcing kindness and self respect, the program helps reduce bullying and creates a safer environment for all children, especially those who may stand out in any way.
Drag Pedagogy
This article, written collaboratively by an education scholar and a drag queen involved in organizing DSH, contextualizes the programme within the landscape of gender in education as well as within the world of drag, and argues that Drag Story Hour provides a generative extension of queer pedagogy into the world of early childhood education. Drawing on the work of José Esteban Muñoz, the authors discuss five interrelated elements of DSH that offer early childhood educators a way into a sense of queer imagination: play as praxis, aesthetic transformation, strategic defiance, destigmatization of shame, and embodied kinship. Ultimately, the authors propose that “drag pedagogy” provides a performative approach to queer pedagogy that is not simply about LGBT lives, but living queerly.
As a parent/
caregiver, how can I be good ally?
Mobilize supportive parents and families. Koch-funded organizations have scaled and organized people from across the U.S. to show up at school board meetings to express grievances with everything from library books to curriculum, citing concerns that parents should have control over what their children learn about at school. Yet, most parents report that they trust their children’s teachers and are knowledgeable about what their children learn. Organizing with parents who support LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum can be a key way to push back against conservative narratives that frame decisions about what is taught in schools as some unseen indoctrination process. If you are a parent or family member of a K-12 student who supports LGBTQ-inclusive education, get involved with your school’s parent association and/or write op-eds for your local and state newspapers.
How can I support freedom?
Support public libraries and community centers. Schools and colleges are two common organizational types commonly associated with public education. Yet, spaces like libraries and community centers also play a role in educating and supporting students’ free and open access to information and community-building. Publicly thank the staff members of these organizations for the queer and trans materials and programs they already provide. These services are vital to public education and are also education spaces in and of themselves, especially for LGBTQ youth. Use these spaces and encourage their use by others. Donate your time and resources to them. Vote in local elections when their funding is jeopardized. Lobby local politics to ensure their ongoing maintenance and staffing.
How can I resist book bans?
This toolkit designed by the American Booksellers Association is designed to be modular and does not have to be read in full! Take what works for you and leave what doesn’t. Jump right to the How-Tos if you just want practical guidance. Skip ahead to hear from the booksellers in our case studies.
The “About Book Bans” section contains the information you need to engage in informed discussion about the unprecedented moment of book-banning and censorship in which we find ourselves.
The “How-Tos” section has specific, actionable resources you can use to support the right to read in your bookstore andcommunity, as well as resources to protect booksellers in the face of harassment and intimidation.
The “What Can I Do?” section will provide a checklist of things to do after you finish browsing the Toolkit to make a difference.
How are Drag Story Hours kept safe for my family to attend?
Drag Story Hour created the Shields Up! Program. This is our strategic response to an increasingly hostile climate outside of our events. We work with a number of professionals in anti-violence, de-esclation techniques, venue secruity, and physical and digital safety.
We are continually developing strategies in the following areas with our chapters:
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Framework development
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Recruitment of volunteer safety teams
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Training for Royal Guard leadership
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Resource library to support continued growth and evolution of Best Practices