Short doc 'It's Okay' explores Drag Story Hour through the eyes of kids
The short documentary “It’s Okay” explores the experiences of two young brothers at a Drag Story Hour event in North Carolina, one of more than a dozen states that have considered restrictions on drag performances in front of minors in recent years.
The new short documentary “It’s Okay” explores the experiences of two young brothers at a Drag Story Hour event in North Carolina, one of more than a dozen states that have considered restrictions on drag performances in front of minors in recent years.
“It’s Okay,” a partnership between MSNBC and The New Yorker Documentary, follows Leo, 9, and Matteo, 4, as they play “Shelita Says” — a version of “Simon Says” — with local drag performer Shelita Bonet Hoyle in Charlotte and watch her read “The Family Book.” The 11-minute documentary will premiere Sunday at 9:45 p.m. ET on MSNBC.
David France, the Oscar-nominated director of “How to Survive a Plague,” said he decided to take on the project after witnessing a protest outside of a Drag Story Hour in Queens, New York, in late 2022.
“It’s Okay” follows Leo, 9, and Matteo, 4, as they play “Shelita Says” — a version of “Simon Says” — with local drag performer Shelita Bonet Hoyle in Charlotte, N.C.MSNBC Films“I was shocked by the vitriol and the hatred and the presence of Proud Boys in uniform and avowed Nazis who were there to denounce drag queens, gay people in general, and Drag Story Hour as an organization of ‘groomers,’ in their words, and ‘pedophiles,’” France told NBC News. “And it seemed shocking to me that people would think that.”France said that he, like many of the protesters, realized he had never been inside a Drag Story Hour, a national program in which drag performers read children’s books to kids, and then he watched as states began to pass restrictions on drag. Two states, Montana and Tennessee, have restricted drag performances in front of minors, though a federal judge blocked Montana’s law from taking effect last year. A federal appeals court allowed Tennessee’s law to take effect last month, reversing a lower court ruling that found it unconstitutional.
An additional four states passed laws that could be used to restrict drag, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank.
Rating: 5