Library Deletes Photos of Children Fondling Drag Queens During ‘Story Hour’
A public library has deleted photos of small children lying on top of drag queens and fondling their false breasts at a Drag Queen Story Hour.
Multnomah County Library, the library system serving Portland, Oregon, quietly removed from Flickr the photos of the Drag Queen Story Hour that took place at St. John’s Library and then circulated on Facebook, leading to a backlash.
Young children attended the October event that featured drag queen Anthony Hudson, aka “Carla Rossi.”
LifeSiteNews archived the photos of a laughing Hudson lying on the floor, arms outstretched, as young children buried themselves in his body and fondled him.
“Activist Mommy” Elizabeth Johnston observed the photos were first noticed when a Facebook user posted them along with a statement: “I wouldn’t let my kids crawl on top of random strangers no matter how said strangers are dressed.”
The photos were brought to the attention of LifeSiteNews, which also noted the library had posted additional photos depicting toddlers and young boys dressed in feather boas.
“The goal is to normalize abnormal, sexually deviant homosexual behavior by enticing children to first: question their sexuality,” said pro-family activist Georgia Kijesky, according to the pro-life media outlet. “The more children see men dressing up as women, the more normal it will become.”
The Blaze subsequently reported that Jeremy Graybill, Multnomah County Library’s marketing and online engagement director, said the Drag Queen Story Hour events “explore ideas of difference, diversity and inclusion through stories, music and costume.”
“The library serves a diverse population with a broad range of interests, preferences and needs,” Graybill explained. “We strive to reflect our communities’ needs in selecting programs, books and other materials.”
He said the library’s policies ensure performers “provide a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for all,” adding:
Presenters and performers are instructed to follow library behavior policies and rules of conduct that protect the interest and safety of presenters, volunteers, staff and library patrons. Parents and caregivers are present at every program.
Concerns about safety at the Drag Queen Story Hour events made headlines recently when pro-family organization Houston Mass Resistance discovered drag queen Alberto Garza, who uses the name Tatiana Mala-Nina when reading to young children, had been convicted in 2008 for sexually assaulting an eight-year-old boy. The Houston library system had failed to perform a background check on Garza or any of the other drag queens appearing in its programs.
The Multnomah County Library’s schedule of events indicated the Drag Queen Story Hour’s target audience is “children 2-6 years old with a favorite adult” and is advertised as “kid-friendly drag.”
“The readings will be followed by a craft or dance party,” the library added. “This program encourages kids to look beyond gender stereotypes, and fosters empathy and creativity.”
Writer Libby Emmons observed at the Federalist:
If the photos are innocent, showing inclusion and queer diversity, then why take them down? Even assuming these story hours were concocted with the best intentions, it seems crazy that librarians could be so blind to the reality that drag, as entertaining and culturally campy as it is for adult audiences, is not sex ed but sex entertainment, and not for kids.
Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit litigation organization, observed Friday that the recent national conference of the American Library Association (ALA) provided librarians from across the United States strategies for arranging Drag Queen Story Hours and for bringing LGBT agenda materials into public libraries without parents’ knowledge.
Workshops at the conference, which was held in June and attended by more than 21,000 people, included titles such as:
A Child’s Room to Choose: Encouraging Gender Identity and Expression in School and Public Libraries; LGBTQ+ Creators and Characters in Kids, Tween, and Teen Comics; Reading the Rainbow: Teaching Kids about Pride and LGBTQ+ History; Are You Going to Tell My Parents?: The Minor’s Right to Privacy in the Library; and Telling Stories, Expanding Boundaries: Drag Queen Story Times in Libraries.
Liberty Counsel reported another breakout session on how to promote LGBT-themed children’s literature, emphasizing titles such as My Brother’s Husband, Lumberjanes, and Pregnant Butch.
“Taxpayer-funded public libraries have no business promoting sexual perversion, gender confusion and pornography to children,” said Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel chairman. “Parents do not want their children exposed to this kind of gutter trash. The American Library Association is now actively grooming innocent children for sexual abuse and causing irreversible harm to them.”