Is the Debate on Drag Queen Story Hour Addressing a Legitimate Concern or an Example of Conservative Moral Panic?

The practice of drag, or the performance based on an exaggerated version of masculinity or femininity, has been around for ages. Whether it is Plautus' play of Menaechimi, Shakespearean plays, drag shows that were part of the Prohibition era, Bugs Bunny, Monty Python, or Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, there has been a practice in cultures (including U.S. culture) of people impersonating the opposite sex with gender-bending. Yet it has become a source of controversy in the United States' culture war, specifically through Drag Queen Story Hour. 

Drag Queen Story Hour was started in 2015 by activist Michelle Tea in San Francisco in the hopes to promote diversity and reading. Essentially, a Drag Queen Story Hour is a public library event in which a drag queen reads a children's story to children from the ages of 3 to 11. Although it started in San Francisco, the nonprofit Drag Queen Hour has 28 chapters in the United States and four chapters abroad. 

Unsurprisingly, the Left and Right have different understandings of what Drag Queen Story Hour is. For the Left, it is a chance for children to be exposed to diversity and being comfortable with and accepting those who are different. For the Right, it is about exposing children to something else. The Right-leaning City Journal opines that Drag Queen Story Hour exists with the purpose of "undermining traditional notions of sexuality, replacing the biological family with the ideological family and arousing transgression sexual desires in young children." So which is it? Is it empowering our children to become better and more caring human beings or sexualizing them?

Whether it is a sexualizing experience is trickier because it is not a simple "yes or no" response. Drag is not inherently obscene or pornographic. The Drag Queen Story Hour is not exposing children to pornography or sexual education. It is an event where drag queens are reading children's books to children. It is also true that a Drag Queen Story Hour is not going to turn children gay. That is not how sexuality works. And let’s not forget that there’s a widely accepted form of sexualizing children, as well as adult women, in the form of beauty pageants.

Conversely, it's not as if these drag queens were dressing up in Victorian-era clothing or something considered more modest in the style of Mrs. Doubtfire. One of the main points of performing as a drag queen is to present an exaggerated version of femininity. Much of the drag getup used by drag queens and the accentuation thereof have a provocative and sexualized aesthetic on some level. It is arguably not as revealing or as explicit as drag queen attire in more adult settings, but there is at least some of it taking place.  

There is a related concern from the Right that Drag Queen Story Hour is used to shove queer theory down children's throats. One selection that is reportedly favored among Drag Queen Story Hour drag queens is Bye Bye Binary. Even if it is true that there are some drag queens that pick children's books with an ideological tilt, it ignores another important facet to this debate. 

Drag Queen Story Hour is not an infringement of parental rights because no one is forcing parents to make their children attend Drag Queen Story Hour. It's a similar concept to how we should deal with children's books from such authors as Roald Dahl or Dr. Seuss. If it offends your sensibilities as a parent, don't buy the book for your child. There is no need to cancel or bowdlerize books.  Similarly, parents have discretion as to whether their children should watch R-rated movies that typically have sex, violence, and/or nudity. 

Conservatives have not had control over the cultural narrative for at least 15 years. It’s why I needed to be reminded that the Right also has the potential to limit freedom simply because they do not agree with the way someone thinks, believes, or acts. The woke Left does not have a monopoly on forcing their views on others. If parent's rights are to apply to more than conservative families, then parents of all political persuasions should be allowed to determine whether an event such as Drag Queen Story Hours is appropriate for their children. To quote the libertarian Reason Magazine, "If you don't approve of drag, don't take your kids there. Leave everyone else alone."