Why are Republicans so obsessed with drag queens right now?

[Joe Republic]

Drag is not obscene or inherently sexual.  But that doesn't mean schools or public libraries should be putting on drag performances for young kids.

Moderate hero option?

I saw people in drag every Christmas as a kid. In theaters. In my school. How is reading a book in drag an inappropriate 'performance?' I'm really struggling to understand the American mindset here.

It would help if any Americans had heard of pantomimes.  I have, but perhaps it would help some of our stunted "drag = hardcore porn!!" acquaintances on here if they could perhaps be shown a few YouTube examples?

[Joe Republic]

Also I am enjoying how MrReactionary and PiT keep posting links to far-right articles about dIsGrAcEfUl!! drag show performances, as if any of them were written in good faith or with any kind of well-rounded understanding about drag culture.

[Joe Republic]

Yes, it is the Republicans who are injecting sexualized burlesque cabaret adult entertainment into everything.

Drag performances can be sexually suggestive, but drag is not at all inherently sexual.

Since when? Ive never seen it described as NOT adult entertainment.

This is what I mean by the left dying on a very strange hill. It's true that "drag" in the most literal sense of cross-dressing is not at all inherently sexual, but we're not talking about Mrs. Doubtfire here. That's not the kind of drag that's being attacked or defended in these conversations. It's the burlesque, adult entertainment type of drag that we're talking about and everyone knows it.

Right, which as we both agree is a completely incorrect assessment.  The right don't even understand what they're complaining about, as Mr. R just admitted in that post.

It doesn't even make sense to me why we're defending it. It doesn't need to be advocated for at all. If parents want their kids to participate in the drag queen story hour then that's 100% their first amendment right. If that drives conservatives to suicide then so be it. Left-leaning politicians have no reason to defend it or comment on it in any way. It's beyond irrelevant and it gives conservatives an easy culture war win when they do.

In a different thread on a different subject, you said the following about a small group of fringe activists campaigning for something fairly irrelevant that could just as easily have been ignored:

"Every time an American institution caves to these people they come for more. Anyone who doesn't understand that hasn't been paying attention."

If I replace the term 'American institution' with 'society's acceptance of the LGBT community', then I'll turn this back to you.  Give these right-wing f-ckers an inch, they will take a mile.

[Joe Republic]

Whether or not Democrats make a show out of defending drag queen children's events has no impact on whether or not they happen. Universities refusing to cave to activists means that the activists don't get what they want.

You'll notice that when conservatives started demanding that we abolish free speech in order to get rid of this crap, I was the first to start arguing with them.

Then you haven't been paying attention, if you think the right is planning to quit this latest bizarre crusade, and launch several more once they get away with it.  And propping up the First Amendment on this, as if the current SCOTUS will also do so, is really quite adorable.

[Joe Republic]

What impeccable timing to see this tweet!

https://twitter.com/washoelibrary/status/1539664525863034881?s=21

Unfortunately we're currently out of town, otherwise I'd love to take my 3 year old to this.

[Joe Republic]

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/21/we-arent-going-anywhere-drag-queen-story-hour-forges-ahead-in-alameda-county/

Here's an article not from the right-wing blogosphere. In fact, it was being wildly celebrated on Reddit. "The hips on the Drag Queen go swish-swish", seems like a good educational book to read to kids. Glad I don't live in Castro Valley.

That was a good read.  Glad to see the haters lose, and in embarrassing style, as usual.  Thanks for sharing!

[Joe Republic]

Drag queens should be banned from public libraries and schools. Thank god I live in a community where this would never happen.

Banned on what specific grounds? How would you word the legal text?

Easy

Defund any public library that has “drag queen story time”.

https://twitter.com/lynndeeslibrary/status/1538144495245701120?s=21

But never mind that.  PresMike thinks men playing dress up is a bannable offense because he thinks it's weird and icky, so fck all the poor people in that community too.

[Joe Republic]

https://twitter.com/lynndeeslibrary/status/1538144495245701120?s=21
But never mind that.  PresMike thinks men playing dress up is a bannable offense because he thinks it's weird and icky, so fck all the poor people in that community too.

I love libraries. I don't own a print so when I need to print or fax something I go to the local library. Or Officemax.

Ok?  So you would sacrifice all of that if even your own library were to schedule a drag queen story time?


@DaleCooper: See, this is why fighting back against right-wingers' bizarre social crusades is always worth fighting.  You think standing up for drag queens here is a weird hill to die on, but as our friend above just demonstrated, he would be willing to defund public libraries to accomplish it.  These people are not just taking an inch; they're scorching the whole mile at the very same time.

Btw, yes I recognize and agree that there are more pressing matters of concern than this that have hit the headlines in the past 48 hours.

[Joe Republic]

You have to pick your battles.

That would be nice, but I don't want to get so focused on winning the battle of abortion rights and gun control etc etc (and I fully intend to fight for them all), and then turn around and realize that we somehow just lost all our public libraries because the PresMikes across the nation cut all their funding over some harmless drag queens.

To win, Democrats need to (a) figure out their goddamn mess of a messaging strategy, and (b) fight harder on every front.  I'll say it again; we should never give these insane assholes a single inch.

[Joe Republic]

So that I understand this clearly whenever there's a new culture war front line:

If it's the right who are the aggressors: "Meh, the right is being weird and dumb for complaining about this, but the left just needs to sit down and stay quiet on this one because otherwise they look even worse."

If it's the left who are the aggressors: "Society needs to fight back against these radical maniacs with every fiber of their being!  Hold the line against the woke menace!!"

[Joe Republic]

Uh, lol, ok then.  I'll keep that hilarious double standard in mind next time I engage with you.

[Joe Republic]

  Seriously?

When the right initiates a new culture war frontline, you want the left to sit back and essentially surrender the narrative entirely.  When the left initiates a new culture war, you want them to be exterminated.

[Joe Republic]

I know, that's why I'm so disgusted when college-educated people ruin the left's reputation and risk losing elections to Republicans just so they can die on the hill of woke BS.

Define?

15 years ago, equal marriage was seen as 'PC bs'. A vote loser. A distraction.

And yet we still managed to get there, didn't we?

You just completely missed afleitch's point, and now aren't making any sense at all.  His point was that gay marriage was back then a fringe position being espoused and implemented by "liberal extremists" in a small handful of the bluest states.  He's right, and he and I both remember very well that large swathes of moderate Dems and other swing voters steered well clear of this hot button issue that would clearly lose them votes (see almost every Dem presidential candidate up to and including 2008).  They hoped it would just go away, and these 'extremists' would please stop embarrassing them and the party.

Had the relevant terms existed back then, you might well have been saying things like "I think that wokeness is terrible and destructive for the country, so of course I want to see its influence gone" in the numerous threads around this forum at the time discussing the creeping spread of gay marriage.  Or if not, and instead you were supportive of the then-fringe position, then once again we see that the methods by which you pick and choose which social issues are "destructive wokeness" and which are perfectly fine and normal are completely arbitrary and frankly anybody's guess.

[Joe Republic]

Just declare Drag Queen Story Hour to be a religion - then Republicans will be fine with it.

Or better yet; have the queens show up armed with an AR-15.

[Joe Republic]

On top of everything else I am, once again, wondering how common this actually is. I've spent most of my life in very socially liberal parts of the country, I often go to the library, and I have never happened upon one of these events or even seen one advertised. Is it a big-cities-only thing?

Back on page 3 I posted a tweet from Washoe Public Library announcing two events in Reno last weekend.  It was a shame we had to miss it due to being out of town.


https://twitter.com/washoelibrary/status/1540814675687772161?s=21

https://twitter.com/washoelibrary/status/1541181336135671810?s=21

[Joe Republic]

but it doesn't change the fact that that type of stuff shouldn't  be around kids (especially pre-elementary aged kids).

This undying thread is now on its 7th page, and thus far nobody has been able to explain why this would be the case.

Assuming that drag queens would tell the same jokes about lubed up dildos etc to little children in between reading books to them is one of the stranger misunderstandings about drag queen story time.