Drag queens plan to set a new world record for largest Storytime event
Two drag queens plan to set a new world record for the largest ever Drag Storytime event, QNews reports.
Hannah Conda and Maxi Shield are hosting the event at Oxford Square this Saturday and say all are welcome.
Drag Storytime growing in popularity
Drag Storytime began in the United States in 2015, and now has more than 32 chapters across that country.
It is also growing in popularity here in Australia too.
It involves drag queens reading stories and sometimes also doing arts and crafts with young children and their parents.
Most are held at public libraries, but some happen at places like the Sydney Aquarium.
Drag Storytime protest ends in tragedy
A group of ultra-right conservative university students previously disrupted a Drag Storytime event happening at a Brisbane City Council library.
The leader of the protest, Wilson Gavin, a gay man himself, committed suicide the following morning after footage of the protest went viral.
A petition was subsequently launched to ban the events from public libraries, however it proved unsuccessful.
Hosts Johnny Valkyrie and Diamond and now suing Lyle Shelton for vilification and discrimination as a result of offensive posts he made on his website blog.
Hannah Conda told QNews how she felt about how Valkyrie and Diamond handled the protest:
“The way they dealt with that situation was so incredible and inspiring.
“They weren’t yelling back. They were being very kind and courteous. One of them stayed with the kids, trying to calm them.
“That was the one thing I took away from that is that they dealt with it with kindness and love.”
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Drag Storytime is about teaching love and inclusiveness
Drag Storytime teaches love and inclusiveness to children, and also that being different is okay.
Hannah Conda told QNews the importance of teaching children about diversity.
“We have such a diverse range of families in our society.
“We have single parent families, some kids are raised by grandparents.
“Some kids have two mums or two dads or trans parents.
“It’s nice for kids to be around that diversity.
“They see that families come in all shapes, sizes, colours and creeds.”
World-record attempt part of Mardi Gras celebrations
Meanwhile, the record-setting Drag Storytime event is part of Oxtravaganza, a celebration on Sydney’s Oxford Street in the lead up to Mardi Gras.
It begins begins at 11am on Saturday at Sydney’s Oxford Square on Oxford Street.
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