Washington Post columnist defends drag story hour for kids, 'nothing inherently sexual'
The column singled out conservative critics like critical race theory opponent Christopher Rufo
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}One Washington Post columnist denied there was anything "inherently sexual" about drag queens, in an article responding to criticism of the performers at children's events.
"Drag queens are not the ones sexualizing drag story hour," Post style columnist, Monica Hesse wrote, arguing that it was actually conservatives who had made drag sexual.
Hesse mocked those on the right upset by what she called a "sincerely wholesome event."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Latin drag queen from bogota Colombia between 30 and 39 years old, presents her theatrical work to her followers during the performance inside the theater on the day of gay pride (iStock)
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"The uproar over such a sincerely wholesome event makes it plain what the issue really is: not parental rights. Not sexualization. Not the content of what the drag queens are reading to the kids. It’s the existence of drag queens. It’s the idea that someone might present in a way that was at odds with a certain vision of how men or women should dress or present or behave," Hesse wrote.
Several liberal media outlets in the past few months, including CNN, The Washington Post and Vice attacked conservative concerns that children are at risk of being "groomed" for potential sexual exploitation with events like these. Hesse dismissed this belief as insincere and intolerant.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Drag queens Athena Kills (C) and Scalene Onixxx arrive to awaiting adults and children for Drag Queen Story Hour at Cellar Door Books in Riverside, California on June 22, 2019 (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
She claimed what the right really had an issue with was "Grooming children for a big, accepting, openhearted kind of life… Grooming children to accept themselves and accept others who may look different or talk differently than they do."
She concluded her article mocking the backlash to other "sinister villains" on the right like "feminists, Muslims, Black Lives Matter protesters, Hunter Biden [and] migrant caravans."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 26: Drag queen "Pickle" reads from a book during the Drag Queen Story Hour program at the West Valley Regional Branch Library on July 26, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. ((Photo by David McNew/Getty Images))
Backlash ensued from some conservatives on Twitter.
Fellow at the Manhattan Institute Christopher Rufo blasted the paper in a series of tweets over the claim that drag wasn’t sexual in nature.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}There has been an increasing push from some media outlets defending drag performers at events for children. In addition to the Post, the Miami Herald's editorial board made a parental rights argument in attacking a recent Republican proposal to make it illegal to bring children to drag shows.
MSNBC's Chris Hayes also called opposition to children at drag events, "violent" and "disgusting," while a NBC News opinion piece defended teaching drag culture to children.