Complaint to ABC regarding Bayside Council’s Rockdale Library planned Drag Queen Storytime event. The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) was reportedly interested in filming or covering the event.
Dear ABC Complaints Team,
I write in reference to the proposed filming of a planned event at Rockdale library.
The event is one in which drag performers, typically associated with gay clubs and cabarets, will be performing to pre-school age children. They are fomented by an organisation in America dedicated to introducing children to transvestism and alternative sexuality. Such events have attracted considerable controversy in the past. The concern comes from parents and ratepayers who have no objection to drag performers but consider them unsuitable for small children. Many people consider that ratepayers’ money should not be used for such purposes.
What exactly is drag story time meant to communicate to 3 year olds? There can only be one possible point to this exercise, and that is to gratify the exhibitionism and narcissism of the performers. The audience is uncomprehending small children who are too young to consent.
There is only one other reason I can think of that grown men with fetishes would want to get access to groups of small children, and it’s illegal. Think about it. The usual audience for drag performance is adults, usually gay men. It is a form of entertainment generally seen as suitable for adults. It circulates around men dressing and behaving in an exaggerated, highly sexualised parody of women. It is totally unsuitable for children and the intrusion of drag performers into children’s events is seen by most as an attempt to sexualise children.
It is extremely alarming that the ABC is openly recruiting parents to bring young children to such events. It should not be doing so. Safeguarding children should be a priority for any organisation, especially one that is government funded. If adults wish to attend drag performances there are plenty of venues where they can do so. They should be off limits to children, and the ABC should definitely not be recruiting for them.
Regards,
Caroline Miley
Note: The ABC pulled out of filming a planned Drag Queen Storytime event at Rockdale Library, after which the event was cancelled.