Should the library hold a drag queen story hour?

The Grand Marais Public Library is once again part of the planning and/or sponsoring of a drag queen story hour. In previous communication with the library board and staff, the library has justified their support of such events by stating that a drag queen story hour aligns with the library’s mission and priorities of “serving underprivileged communities” to include the LGBTQIA+. The mission statement that we are aware of from their webpage is this: “The Grand Marais Public Library increases knowledge, inspires creativity, removes barriers, and builds community across Cook County.” Drag queen story hours have become so controversial that it begs the question: does this event really help with removing barriers or building community across Cook County? We don’t think so.

We cannot ignore the fact that a drag queen story hour is not just a “fun” event that falls under the umbrella of inspiring creativity. The reality is that at its core, drag queen story hour is aimed at encouraging kids to be their “authentic selves and become bright lights of change in their communities” (see dragqueenstorehour.org). It is about a man dressed in a “toned down” version of their sexualized get up to read books to kids. It is about presenting a parody of a woman. It is about helping kids to create a positive association with those two things (a man in sexualized dress). Why not invite a stripper as long as he or she tones down the nudity and lap dance to read to our children? After all, shouldn’t the library work to erase the stigma around sex work? Once you start down this road, where does it stop?

The drag queen story hour is about ideology and not literacy. It is political, and the library is engaging in activism. It does not belong as part of the local library and should not be taxpayer supported. Let’s leave the activism to privately funded organizations.

We invite you to sign a petition to ask the public library to stop engaging in political or ideological activism—it is not part of their community building mission! You can access the petition here:

Sincerely, Theresa Donovan, Hovland

Editor’s note: There were 65 signatures on the petition.