#drag queen story hour

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Daniel Villarreal at LGBTQ Nation:

Alabama’s legislature is advancing two censorious anti-LGBTQ bills: H.B. 130 would ban LGBTQ+ flags in classrooms and expand the state’s “Don’t say gay” law to include grades 6-8; H.B. 385 would jail librarians for giving “sexual or gender-oriented material” to minors without parental consent. Both bills were approved in the Alabama House of Representatives this week and now head to the state’s Republican-led upper legislative chamber.

Alabama’s current “Don’t Say Gay” law says that K-5 classrooms “shall not engage in classroom discussion or provide classroom instruction regarding sexual orientation or gender identity in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” H.B. 130 would also remove the section “in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” banning LGBTQ+ discussions completely. The H.B. 130 expansion, which passed the state House on Tuesday, would expand the law to include grades 6-8 and also prohibit “flags symbolizing sexual orientations or gender identities” in all grade school levels. [...]

On Thursday, the Alabama House also passed H.B. 385, a bill would expand the state’s definition of “sexual conduct” to include conduct that “knowingly exposes minors to persons who are dressed in sexually revealing, exaggerated, or provocative clothing or costumes, or are stripping, or engaged in lewd and lascivious dancing, presentations, or activities in K-12 public schools, public libraries, and other public places where minors are expected and are known to be present without parental consent.”

The law would place libraries in the same category as “adult-only” stores, movies, and entertainment” in order to criminalize librarians who provide “sexual or gender-oriented material” to minors without parental consent. The bill would force school and public librarians to remove any books that other people find “obscene” or “harmful” to minors — though the law doesn’t specify who would determine what’s “obscene” or “harmful.” After filing a written objection to the library director or principal, librarians would then have seven days to remove the book from shelves. Librarians who fail to do so could initially face a misdemeanor criminal charge and a fine of up to $10,000 and a county jail or hard labor sentence of up to one year. If a librarian is convicted of a second or subsequent violation, they could face a class C felony charge punishable by up to 10 years in prison, The Alabama Reflector reported.

Alabama is getting closer to passing two anti-LGBTQ+ extremist and censorious pieces of legislation: #HB130 bill that bans LGBTQ+ Pride Flags in classrooms and expands the Don't Say Gay or Trans law to cover grades 6-8.

HB385 bill would expand the definition of "sexual conduct" to include K-12 public schools, public libraries, and other public places in a setting where minors are expected to be entering.

Both of these bills are based on the right-wing myth that exposure to LGBTQ+ content "sexualizes" and "indoctrinates" children.

[elierlick]

A simple answer to a simple question.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Critics are saying a new bill introduced into the Texas Legislature this year will only encourage a bounty-hunting trend that targets drag queens and transgender people. Texas state GOP Rep. Steve Toth filed House Bill 4378 on Thursday, March 9 that will allow anyone in Texas to sue people who perform in drag or host a drag performance where children are present.

The bill targets events like family-friendly brunch shows at restaurants or drag queen story time events at libraries or other family-oriented drag queen events. The bill says that people who sue a person or venue can be awarded $5,000 in damages.

Erin Reed, a transgender rights activist and independent reporter, tweeted about HB 4378 on Saturday, March 11, saying that the piece of legislation could easily be used to target transgender people who perform.

The bill defines drag as "a performance in which a performer exhibits a gender that is different than the performer’s gender recorded at birth." It goes on to say this performance can involve using makeup and clothing to dance, lip sync, or perform "in a lascivious manner."

The bill joins 17 other proposed pieces of Texas legislation that targets transgender people, drag queens, and the LGBTQ+ community. The Advocate reported in November 2022 that Texas legislators have proposed anti-LGBTQ+ bills for the upcoming legislative session. This now includes HB 4378 and the recent heterosexual tax cut bill from state Rep. Bryan Slaton.

That proposed bill would provide massive tax cuts, up to 100%, for straight families that stay married and have children. Slaton also pushed a bill that would have outlawed minors at drag shows.

[antifainternational]

The Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club has been coming out to successfully defend LGBTQ+ and drag events in Texas from armed bigots for months now. Last month, three of them were arrested while doing just that. The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund has stepped in to help the defenders defend themselves in court.

Story above; make a contribution to the Defence Fund here

[nando161mando]

Rainbow Community Angels are calling out for community support at Shepparton library today if anyone wants to dress up and join in!

THIS EVENT IS NOT BEING CANCELLED.

Well done to Shepparton library for standing strong! 👏🏻 Absolute legends!! 🌈 💫

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/EmfF63bgBAnYnwPT/?mibextid=Na33Lf

@anarchistmemecollective @antifainternational @kropotkindersurprise @radicalgraff

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

[gay-----pisces2]

whiny conservatives: WHYYYY ARE YOU PUSHING YOUR VALUES ONTO USSSSS

theres no law that says you must attend, however there are many laws discriminating on people who are queer. seems like your the one pushing your values.

[theconcealedweapon]

There are comedians with sexual content. No one assumes that comedy is inherently sexual or that comedians with an audience of children are inherently inappropriate.

There are magicians with sexual content. No one assumes that magic is inherently sexual or that magicians with an audience of children are inherently inappropriate.

Drag can easily be treated the same way.

[libertarianneko]

There’s no meaningful difference between these two pictures unless you have an intense fear and hatred of men.

“WhY woUlD a mAn wwAnT tO wEaR a DrEss anD hEeLs tO rEaD tO kiDs”

Idk why does Dolly Parton? She wants to entertain kids & help them get into reading. It’s only because of stereotyping men (especially gay men) as predators that people lose their minds over drag queen story hour. Or they’ve mistakenly labeled it as trans and they fear trans women (usually also because they view them as men who they view as predators)

[archivlibrarianist]

Canada's library associations saying what needs to be said: "Guided by our shared values and our resolve to articulate support of library programming that contributes to and bolsters reading, language, and literacy development in the communities we serve, Canada’s community of library associations proudly defend and celebrate educational initiatives, including drag storytime, as the valuable catalyst for public good that they are."

[nerdygaymormon]

Back in February, a bunch of Christians anti-gay protesters showed up to Drag Queen Story Hour at a Pocatello, ID library. This is a heavily-LDS community and the church put out a statement that it "did not sanction or support these protests."

Update, the city of Pocatello has given an award to Reading Time with the Queens doing the Drag Queen Story Hour!

In addition to this award, the group also received the “Community Educator Award” from the Pocatello Branch of NAACP and the president of the program, Miss Cali, also received the “Kind Community Crewsader” from the Kind Community.  

[antifainternational]

ALERTA! ALERTA! TORONTO ANTIFASCISTA! Today! Toronto Alert! Call for autonomous drag defense in Toronto Saturday April 29th, 2-4PM at the Fort York Library. Come with pals. wear a mask bring your flags and banners put in the earplugs and keep the bigots out, streamers recording ground, and your feet dry

[zee-man-chatter]

😮

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]