Drag Queens won't be cowed by haters. The story hour goes on.

As a children’s book author and member of Drag Queen Story Hour, an international program in which drag performers read books to children in libraries and

As a children’s book author and member of Drag Queen Story Hour, an international program in which drag performers read books to children in libraries and beyond, my work has been routinely challenged.

From protests outside events to hate mail in my inbox, I have to be especially careful about my privacy and safety (which is why I use my drag name publicly rather than my legal name). While I have grown used to backlash from conservative groups, I am disturbed by the recent mainstreaming of overtly anti-LGBTQ and racist discourse, especially legislative attacks on trans kids, attempts to falsely discredit queer people as “groomers” and efforts to ban books with diverse themes.

In a horrific turn of events, last weekend a group allegedly linked to the Proud Boys showed up at a story hour to harass and threaten organizers and performers in San Lorenzo, California. While performer Panda Dulce ultimately finished the reading, disruptions like this are both terrifying and terrorizing — traumatizing the very children that vigilantes claim to protect.

Group of men disrupt Drag Queen Story Hour at California libraryJune 13, 202202:30But drag performance is an especially powerful and joyful antidote to such attacks. Drag activates creativity and play, expanding traditional ways of thinking. Drag offers a textbook example of imagination: transforming society by making a new image of ourselves and the world around us. Drag queens and kings turn trash into treasure, taking our inner spark and allowing it to shine on the outside. And we invite respect through the audacity of being our most fabulous selves, holding our heads high even against the toughest critics.

Still, it requires resolve to stay strong when these attacks are not only relentless but personal. Recently, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida issued an inflammatory statement about a canceled drag story time event in which he attacked me, parroting dangerous rhetoric suggesting that drag queens sexualize children. This month, despite the urgent dangers posed by gun violence, Republican Texas state Rep. Bryan Slaton absurdly vowed to introduce legislation banning drag shows for children. Shortly thereafter, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, the Republican Arizona state senators and Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia suggested they might follow suit. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/drag-queens-story-hour-goes-on-rcna34169

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