by Bob Sullivan
A prominent Nebraska newspaper recently published an apologetics piece on Drag Queen Story Hours (DQSHs). These are events in which men dress in flamboyant women’s clothing and makeup, and read children’s books to a group of young children.
Male actors dressing in women’s clothing is not new. However, the issue is the intention and the message, and this is revealed most clearly by the books chosen for these events, and sometimes by the added message and behavior of the men who dress in women’s clothing for DQSHs.
The piece in the prominent Nebraska newspaper called the events “art” and portrayed them as entertainment. In reality, they are propaganda which is intended to confuse and manipulate children.
How does this happen? First, you need adults who have an agenda. In most cases of DQSHs, the venue is a coffee shop, book store, library, or children’s museum. The event is promoted to members of the LGBT community and their allies. An ally is a person who is supportive of the LGBT community, but who is not necessarily same-sex attracted, transgender, or otherwise openly engaging in the behaviors supported by the LGBT community. Allies typically have a family member or a close friend who has become active in the LGBT community and who openly advocates for their lifestyle.
The venue, and the primary audience, are then used to invite and attract other parents and their young children to the event. This is the crucial part of the promotion. If the only attendees are those who are already supporters of the LGBT community, the events will not continue. This is because the events are not simply entertainment.
While members of the LGBT community likely enjoy the books and the events, they do not need such an event in order to be taught or entertained. In most cases, they have open and frequent access to LGBT books and other members of the LGBT community. The events are used to create visibility and curiosity in the local community, so that parents and “allies” who are on the fringe, can be lured in.
However, it isn’t the parents they are seeking. It is the children. Parents who suspect their child may be same-sex attracted, or transgender, may be inclined to try and introduce their child to a community that they believe will be accepting of their child’s possible inclinations. While this is an enormous parenting mistake from which the child may suffer for the rest of their life, such is the inclination of far too many parents.
Why would a parent promote a lie to their child, which can detrimentally affect the child’s relationships for the rest of their life? It says everything about the parent, and nothing about the child.
The books promoted by the DQSHs often are the first steps to promoting the highly sexualized LGBT lifestyle. There are LGBT books which even portray Santa Claus as an active a member of the LGBT community. It is tragic that people easily forget that the origin of Santa Claus is St. Nicholas, the bishop of Myra, but to twist all this into propaganda for the promotion of a disordered and often very unhealthy lifestyle, is unacceptable.
Yet a prominent Nebraska newspaper published a piece which promoted events which draw in small children, as “art.”
DQSHs are not art. They are carefully planned and executed events which are meant to recruit and change the beliefs and opinions of young children. Parents who take their children to these events should feel very uneasy about their decision.
Proponents of DQSHs and other similar events almost always tell us that there is nothing to worry about. They claim that these events and their efforts to promote the LGBT lifestyle cannot “turn” children, meaning that it can’t cause a child to begin questioning his or her sexual orientation or their gender. However, we know these claims are blatantly false. If they were true, the LGBT community would never try to keep counselors and therapists from helping children who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria. However, this isn’t the case.
For the last decade or so, LGBT lobbyists and the legislators who listen to them, have tried to pass laws which criminalize counseling and therapy which helps children overcome same-sex attraction and/or the feeling that their “gender” does not correspond with their biological sex (gender dysphoria). In Nebraska, there was even a brief effort to pass a law which would have made it the crime of child abuse for a parent to take their child to such a counseling session. All the while, there is a huge push in child psychology to affirm the same-sex attraction and gender confusion of children.
Either adult influence has an impact on a child’s interests and self-identity or it doesn’t. I believe it does, and so do LGBT advocates, even if they refuse to admit it. Their actions speak much louder than their words.
Hopefully more and more parents see through the ruse which portrays DQSHs as harmless entertainment or “art” which is appropriate for children. This just simply isn’t the case. If members of the LGBT community want to entertain themselves, that is their right. When the media assists in making excuses and supporting the misinformation directed at children, that is unacceptable.
