Why are Republicans so obsessed with drag queens right now?

[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.

[T'Chenka]

The stuff I say about what goes on in schools does not come from Fox News it comes from multiple people I know who are teachers .

However it's anecdotal, and there's no guarantee that it's representative of your whole city, much less state or country, nor free from the biases of whoever told the stories to you.

Well then you should have no problem banning certain things from being done in public schools then . If it doesn’t happen or is extremely rare then banning it wouldn’t change much so there is no harm in banning it .

You are correct in theory, but in practice, Republican governors will use extremely wide definitions of each and every word they can in the law to silence or intimidate gay teachers. There ARE things that I would be willing to support banning if they were becoming an actual problem.

[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

[Ferguson97]

Well then you should have no problem banning certain things from being done in public schools then . If it doesn’t happen or is extremely rare then banning it wouldn’t change much so there is no harm in banning it .

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

[T'Chenka]

Well then you should have no problem banning certain things from being done in public schools then . If it doesn’t happen or is extremely rare then banning it wouldn’t change much so there is no harm in banning it .

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

He's talking about teachers trying to brainwash kids into intersectional CRT / feminism.

[Ferguson97]

Well then you should have no problem banning certain things from being done in public schools then . If it doesn’t happen or is extremely rare then banning it wouldn’t change much so there is no harm in banning it .

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

He's talking about teachers trying to brainwash kids into intersectional CRT / feminism.

Ah.

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

[T'Chenka]

Well then you should have no problem banning certain things from being done in public schools then . If it doesn’t happen or is extremely rare then banning it wouldn’t change much so there is no harm in banning it .

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

He's talking about teachers trying to brainwash kids into intersectional CRT / feminism.

Ah.

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

I'm sure Republicans would paint it as "too woke" across the board. If I'm being honest, a lot of intersectional discussion is too woke for my liking, and a lot of Dem voters would agree with me. That isn't to say that every single take and discussion on intersectionality is "too woke". Realistically, kids don't need to learn intersectionality at school IMO, unless it's just a simple and quick explaination of what it is. You can teach kids proper history, not whitewashed, as well as racism, sexism, faith-based discrimination and other forms of bigotry, and that'll probably be good enough without wading into intersectionality and pissing off every Republican in the country.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Well then you should have no problem banning certain things from being done in public schools then . If it doesn’t happen or is extremely rare then banning it wouldn’t change much so there is no harm in banning it .

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

He's talking about teachers trying to brainwash kids into intersectional CRT / feminism.

Ah.

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

Well don’t implement these types of changes in our educational system without running on it first. In the meanwhile we should ban CRT and the use of it

[Farmlands]

Well then you should have no problem banning certain things from being done in public schools then . If it doesn’t happen or is extremely rare then banning it wouldn’t change much so there is no harm in banning it .

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

He's talking about teachers trying to brainwash kids into intersectional CRT / feminism.

Ah.

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

You want fewer decisions like Dobbs or Glenn Youngkins in the future? Because that's all this nonsense is ever going to accomplish. But it looks like you'd rather brainwash kids, as you seem perfectly willing to admit, rather than get anything actually meaningful done.

[Ferguson97]

Well then you should have no problem banning certain things from being done in public schools then . If it doesn’t happen or is extremely rare then banning it wouldn’t change much so there is no harm in banning it .

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

He's talking about teachers trying to brainwash kids into intersectional CRT / feminism.

Ah.

Why would we ban something that isn't bad?

You want fewer decisions like Dobbs or Glenn Youngkins in the future? Because that's all this nonsense is ever going to accomplish. But it looks like you'd rather brainwash kids, as you seem perfectly willing to admit, rather than get anything actually meaningful done.

I get the Youngkin argument, but what does Dobbs have to do with CRT?

[lakeview]

But your side does do that. Or, wants to do that, if they're not able to already. Your side has said in plain English that that is a goal of theirs.

Outside of a few extremists on Twitter, and Peebs a few posts above me, 98 or 99% of leftists do not do that or want that done. This is a fringe minority that the right wing is hyper-focused on. Most people just want gay kids to be gay and sraight kids to be straight, same for cis and trans, without schools trying to push them to be any particular way.

Such a fringe minority that I had to travel a whole two posts before finding someone saying exactly what you claim hardly anybody is saying.

[Hindsight was 2020]

But your side does do that. Or, wants to do that, if they're not able to already. Your side has said in plain English that that is a goal of theirs.

Outside of a few extremists on Twitter, and Peebs a few posts above me, 98 or 99% of leftists do not do that or want that done. This is a fringe minority that the right wing is hyper-focused on. Most people just want gay kids to be gay and sraight kids to be straight, same for cis and trans, without schools trying to push them to be any particular way.

Such a fringe minority that I had to travel a whole two posts before finding someone saying exactly what you claim hardly anybody is saying.

Apples and oranges, you’ve been going around accusing “the left” or forcing/brainwashing people into being trans while Peebs was bemoaning how much easier growing up trabs would of been if it wasn’t stigmatized 

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

Such a fringe minority that I had to travel a whole two posts before finding someone saying exactly what you claim hardly anybody is saying.

Apples and oranges, you’ve been going around accusing “the left” or forcing/brainwashing people into being trans while Peebs was bemoaning how much easier growing up trabs would of been if it wasn’t stigmatized 

See, that's the problem. Lakeview is taking me literally but not seriously, while you're taking me seriously and not literally (as you should).

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

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.

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.

The thing is, it is people who we are talking about. I felt compelled to answer because I have some foot in the queer community and I am friends with a few people who do drag, some quite successfully. One can certainly debate about age-appropriateness. But there are now direct attacks involved -"grooming" "perverted adults "sexualisation of minors;" one of the links that Mr R posted puts drag queens in schools in the context of sexual abuse, another talks about "LGBT indoctrination." Language like this, directed at people, crosses a line. I don't see this as a legislative priority either; I find this whole discussion stupid and I didn't start. But I don't buy it that one should leave such personal attacks uncommented--because we are talking about innocent people, and these attacks WILL stick.

The easiest way to avoid "personal attacks" is to not perform for literal children. There is not a single good reason why schools need to host this anymore than they need to host strippers or porn actors. There is not a single good reason why we need to host book reading events for small children hosted by adult entertainers. There is not a single good reason literal bars should be admitting children for the purpose of watching this kind of "entertainment". There is not a single good reason children should be at parades where dragqueens ride on a phallus float tossing bottles of lube to the crowd. If you dont want this association between drag and the G word, the easiest solution is to not have them do their thing around kids.

So I can direct ANY attack at a group of people if I have the vague idea that one of that cohort might have done something wrong. Very cool and normal!

Duh. Have u ever read a Rhuneghost post on here? 1 in 10 comments in USGD are some variation of "all republicans are racist nazi fascist terrorists".

You left out one or two adjectives. 

For example, and more relevant to this thread, Senator Lankford (R-OK) just won his primary contest. That was after this came out:
Senator in 2010 deposition: 13-year-olds can consent to sex

In 2009, while Lankford worked at the camp, the family of a 13-year-old girl sued a 15-year-old boy who was alleged to have had sex with her at the camp. Lankford, who was not in Congress at the time, is not alleged to have had any direct knowledge of the alleged assault, has not been accused of any wrongdoing and was not a defendant in the lawsuit, which was settled for an undisclosed amount before it was scheduled to go to trial.

But in a 2010 deposition in the case, given a week after he was elected to his first term in the U.S. House, Lankford testified that he believed a 13-year-old could consent to sex.

“Yes, I think they can,” Lankford told Kenyatta Bethea, a lawyer for the girl’s family, according a 155-page transcript of the deposition obtained by The Associated Press.

The age of consent in Oklahoma is 16, and although there is an exception in the law for minors between the ages of 14 and 17 who have sexual contact, there is no provision under which a 13-year-old could consent to sex. When Bethea pressed if his answer was still the same “if I ask you that question in terms of your position as a father,” Lankford maintained his stance.

“Yes, they can,” he said.

At that time, now-Senator Lankford  was the director of the youth programming for the largest youth camp in the United States. With Republicans it's always projection. And when the rank and file member of the party support this and countless other horrors, again and again and again, they all earn every epithet they receive.

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Being icky to people with conservative views on queer stuff and actually being inappropriate for children are two different things.

[Hammy]

The manufactured moral outrage over this reminds me of when people were up in arms about bikers doing children's charities. This is literally no different--it's a public outreach by a segment of society who wants to break a negative stigma around them, and do a service for the community at the same time.

[Coldstream]

The manufactured moral outrage over this reminds me of when people were up in arms about bikers doing children's charities. This is literally no different--it's a public outreach by a segment of society who wants to break a negative stigma around them, and do a service for the community at the same time.

I’d much rather a drag Queen than a hells angel given the choice.

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

To be totally fair; so am I.

Obviously for different reasons. I just like myself a cocktail and a drag queen show with friends every few Saturdays or so.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Last week:
Cops help masked Proud Boys terrorize kids at NC Pride event (last week)

Yesterday:
Pride Month Children's Library Event Canceled After Proud Boys Disruption

Today:
Alleged Proud Boys pepper sprayed while trying to attack drag show in California

This is a terrorist campaign.

Groups like the Proud Boys may be the pointy end of the spear, but the Republican Party, as an entity, provides the popular support, the incitement, the justifications. And protects them from the law. There are no good outcomes here. (Sooner than anyone wants, we're going to get more intersections of the GOP's anti-LGBT+ rhetoric and their pro-gunmurder rhetoric.) The rest of us need to remember that we ought not negotiate with terrorists. Dealing with Republicans while they are targeting their fellow Americans with violence and planning the overthrow of our Republic only encourages them.

[freepcrusher]

Last week:
Cops help masked Proud Boys terrorize kids at NC Pride event (last week)

Yesterday:
Pride Month Children's Library Event Canceled After Proud Boys Disruption

Today:
Alleged Proud Boys pepper sprayed while trying to attack drag show in California

This is a terrorist campaign.

Groups like the Proud Boys may be the pointy end of the spear, but the Republican Party, as an entity, provides the popular support, the incitement, the justifications. And protects them from the law. There are no good outcomes here. (Sooner than anyone wants, we're going to get more intersections of the GOP's anti-LGBT+ rhetoric and their pro-gunmurder rhetoric.) The rest of us need to remember that we ought not negotiate with terrorists. Dealing with Republicans while they are targeting their fellow Americans with violence and planning the overthrow of our Republic only encourages them.

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

[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.

[freepcrusher]

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.

the slippery slope is not a fallacy. Especially when the same people that are funding DQST are probably the same people funding the prostasia foundation