Parents Furious NYC Spent Over $200K for Drag Queen Shows in Schools

New York City has spent more than $200,000 on drag queen shows in public performances and story readings at various schools, libraries, and festivals. Some parents have voiced their outrage as they have not consented to these activities for their children.

A mom told state Assembly candidate Helen Qiu that she was shocked because her 11-year-old son was exposed to drag queen culture without her permission. She also pointed out that drag queen shows are not part of the curriculum.

PS 191 mom Reese Harrington echoed what the other mom said, adding that conversations about gender fluidity should occur at home between the parents and their kids and not at drag queen shows.

Storm Neverson, who has two children under ten years old, does not think drag queen shows are appropriate for their ages. She said she was briefed about these shows, but it was more like a heads-up than actually asking permission from the parents. The mom believes that her kids will likely understand gender fluidity if they are in middle school.

Some parents said that additions and variations to the program have expanded in recent years to include lessons encouraging the children to pick their pronouns or come up with their drag names, per the New York Post.

The drag shows entail a 45-minute story hour whose performers are trained by the librarians to read certain books that highlight diversity. The drag queens also sing and do arts and crafts with the kids.

Proposed Funding Pull Out

Drag Queen Story Hour NYC received $207,000 of taxpayers' money in less than four years to mount these events featuring cross-dressers. As of January 2022, the group has organized around 40 drag shows in 34 public schools for K-12 to high school in all of the city's five boroughs.

This year, $80,000 has been allocated to the City Council. However, Vickie Paladino, a Council representative, said she would pull out funding for these drag shows in her district. She said programs that teach little kids about gender fluidity, paid "out of the pockets of hardworking New York taxpayers," are no longer happening on her watch.

According to Daily Mail, the state's Department of Education said that these programs were aimed at helping curb violence against gender-nonconforming people and transgender. Suzan Sume, the department's spokesperson, said that young children might learn early on that they have to respect different people.

June is Pride Month

The controversy comes as June is Pride Month for the LGBTQI+ community. Earlier, protesters gathered in Manhattan with plans to heckle Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was invited to a private affair, per ABC 7.

In March, DeSantis signed a law in his state to ban schools from teaching younger students about gender identity and sexual orientation. He also agreed to disallow gender therapies in Florida and revoked Medicaid for adults seeking treatments for their transition. The LGBTQI+ community believes that these decisions have been an attack on them.