I love love love the idea of NYPL’s Drag Queen Story Time. Having moved from small-town Montana to the extremely diverse + inclusive Bay Area, and now to New York City (where you can hear 5 different languages spoken in one subway car) I don’t think I can ever live somewhere again that doesn’t offer even a taste of progressive children’s programming such as this. This is an amazing way to help prevent the bullying and marginalization of LGBTQ people in our communities, starting from the earliest ages! I believe this program originated at NYPL, but it has now expanded to different cities and venues!
NYPL describes the programming as:
“A program for children aged 3-8 that raises awareness of gender diversity, promotes self-acceptance, and builds empathy through an enjoyable literary experience. In this 45-minute program, a drag queen trained by children’s librarians reads picture books, sings songs, and leads children in a simple craft activity. Children love the bright colors, glamorous outfits, and larger-than-life personalities of the drag queen performers, but more importantly, DQSH teaches children to accept and celebrate gender diversity in themselves and others, and helps to curb bullying of LGBTQ children.”
Related Links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/style/drag-queen-story-hour-puts-the-rainbow-in-reading.html
Early Childhood + Elementary Programming – Drag Queen Story Time
manuela aronofsky 