Mayor Invites Drag Queens To Read To Kids At City Hall After Library Shuts Down ‘Drag Queen Reading Hour’

I’ve seen a far too many stories about “Drag Queen Story Hour” in the news over the last few months (even years). Why? Because it’s not just happening in one area. It’s A Thing. Just the other week, we discovered that a Houston Public Library allowed a sex offender to read to kids during story hour.

Yeah.

Newsflash: Just because you’re covered in make-up, glitter and pretty colors doesn’t mean you don’t need a background check. For crying out loud…

The library apologized.

“We deeply regret this oversight and the concern this may cause our customers. We realize this is a serious matter.”

No freaking duh.

“We are taking the appropriate action to ensure that the status of every participant in every program throughout our system is verified. We will continue to review our process to ensure that this cannot happen again,” the statement continued.

“Once again, we apologize for our failure to adhere to our own process in this matter and to the hundreds of parents and caregivers who have enjoyed this program with their children,” it added.

Try again.

ANYWAY. We have another drag queen library story.

You see, Miss Terra Cotta Sugarbaker had been participating in Drag Queen Story Hour at a local library for over a year, but the library eventually dropped it.

Igarashi-Ball told the Journal-Constitution the library system withdrew its sponsorship of the reading event but will allow an unsponsored event take place on April 27, adding that he was “definitely interested to discuss the possibility, and we love that the Mayor is supporting our event!”

“We appreciate the community support for the Drag Queen Story Time event, which has been successful and well received at the Ponce de Leon Library. We recommended to the organizer that it continue at the location where it has a strong track record. … Not every program is offered at every location,” the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System said in a statement.

What happened next? Democratic Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms jumped in and invited the drag queen to read to kids at city hall. For real.

Miss Terra Cotta Sugarbaker and all of our LGBTQ friends are always welcome at Atlanta City Hall. How about we host your next story hour? @CityofAtlanta—let’s make it happen! #OneAtlanta 🌈 https://t.co/gj3eUIRZSC

— Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) April 5, 2019

How on Earth does this benefit children? If you’re an adult who wants to go out and watch a drag show, that’s one thing, but there’s absolutely no reason to expose impressionable minds to it. Many of the men who resort to drag have a lot of emotional issues that were never addressed, and my heart hurts for them. I just don’t think slapping make-up on and pretending everything is OK is a viable answer, and I don’t understand why children have to be exposed to the complexities behind drag at such a young age. It’s totally inappropriate for politicians to promote that.

h/t The Hill