British Story Reading Event Marred By Protest, Arrest

Topline

One person was arrested during a right-wing protest of a drag queen storytelling event in London Saturday, according to multiple reports, complementing an effort by conservatives in the U.S.—who claim these events sexualize children—to ban similar programs in recent weeks.

Key Facts

The Metropolitan Police arrested one person on suspicion of making a racially aggravated comment toward police, according to the BBC, as the London-based Tate Britain art gallery hosted a storytelling event by drag queen Aida H Dee.

Dee, who founded Drag Queen Story Hour UK, noted the protests outside the art gallery led to “no disruptions” of the event.

Right-wing protestors—who held signs warning against the “sexualization of children”—clashed with trans-rights activists outside the gallery, according to The Telegraph, though both groups were separated by police.

Despite the protest, a spokesperson for the gallery said it does not schedule events or artists “in order to promote particular points of view, nor to reconcile differing points of view,” adding visitors “have the freedom to choose” what events they engage in.

Big Number

141. That’s how many protests against drag events in the U.S. were recorded in 2022, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

Key Background

Drag Story Hour, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization where storytellers dressed in drag read books to kids in libraries or bookstores, was founded in San Francisco in 2015. A UK-based Drag Story Hour—though its website does not directly refer to the U.S. organization—was launched by Dee as an effort to provide “imaginative role models for children to look up to” through performances throughout the UK. Efforts to ban these organizations and other similar programs have ramped up in recent weeks, including bills introduced in some states—North Dakota, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arizona—that would ban drag performers from appearing in front of minors. While activists promote the events as a way to inspire children to love reading and to celebrate diversity and inclusivity, protestors have pushed a false claim that drag artists are using story times to “[have] their way” with children.”

Further Reading

How Drag Queens Became A Right-Wing Target—From Alex Jones To Tucker Carlson—With These States Trying To Ban Story Hours And Shows (Forbes)