A Minnesota Republican lawmaker recently called on Hennepin County Libraries to end its weekly series for children called “Stories Together With Drag Performers.”
The series is part of a national “Drag Queen Story Hour” program and kicked off at Augsburg Park Library in Richfield in early October. Russ King, popularly known as “Miss Richfield 1981,” performed for toddlers at the event, as The Minnesota Sun reported.
King is currently touring the country for his “Gender Fluids” show and often mocks Christians during his performances—photos of which show him with his legs spread in front of a cross and eating baby-Jesus cookies.
During his event at Augsburg Park Library, King read a book called Neither to the children in attendance, which argues that some people are neither a boy nor a girl. The second book he read was titled Rainbow, which teaches children about the rainbow flag.
“Russ was wearing a very short skirt and very high heels, and when he bent over, or his legs spread apart, he revealed his underwear to a dozen toddlers who sat before him. Children between eight months and 13 years were there,” a freelance conservative journalist said of the event.
State Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) said “it’s outrageous that publicly funded institutions would put on such programming” in a recent letter in the Perham Focus. The Minnesota Republican claimed that “multiple known sex offenders have hosted these story times in other states.”
“Instead of bringing in drag queens, libraries and schools need to focus on what’s truly important: reading to kids! This kind of adult content is neither appropriate for children nor helpful for their learning and development,” she wrote in her letter. “Child literacy is crucial and reading to kids is very important to improving literacy, but bringing in adult performers to read to them is not the way to improve our standing.”
“Instead, I would encourage parents to read to their children, and if libraries want to hold story time events, kids would be better served by having age-appropriate book characters and community leaders in to read,” Franson concluded. “Our kids deserve fun, age-appropriate activities, and our libraries have a responsibility to ensure that their programming reflects that.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
