On 18 May a tweet briefly appeared on the Twitter feed of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN)* advertising an event that was to take place in the RCN Libraries across the four countries of the UK. Was this a new clinical breakthrough? A celebration of a prominent nursing figure? A new book on the art and science of nursing? No, remarkably, it was advertising an event called Drag Storytime for children aged zero to seven years old which is produced by Drag Queen Story Hour UK an organisation describing itself as: “Drag Queen Story Hour UK provide fun and interactive kids shows with amazing and talented drag performers! Drag Queen Story Hour UK wants to show the world that being different is not a bad thing, and by providing imaginative role models for children to look up to, we can change the world book by book!” Clearly from within the nursing profession—to which I belong—sufficient dismay was expressed on Twitter to see the tweet swiftly deleted. This restores my faith in some of my fellow nurses, but what in God’s name is the RCN thinking of in the first place promoting this kind of event? Sadly, while the tweet was deleted, I am reliably informed that the event is still going ahead. What are we to make of this?
Some men like dressing as women and, God bless them, they’ve given us a huge amount of entertainment over the years. Who could fail to have liked the late Danny La Rue, for example? I’m not sure it crossed many people’s mind at the time that he was gay and even he denied it for many years. I know I shouldn’t have but I have howled with laughter at Paul O’Grady in his drag alter ego Lily Savage and Mr O’Grady presents a fine Saturday afternoon show on BBC Radio 2. I have never really taken to Eddie Izzard in either of his sexual identities but anyone who can deliver a comedy show in both English and French and make both audiences laugh must be talented. Come to think of it, anyone who can make the French laugh in any language must be talented. I am also aware that not all drag queens and transvestites are gay, but most are.
But this is adult entertainment. It is always risqué, at the edge and let’s face it, appeals predominantly to gay men. I went to a pantomime with my grandchildren last year and the character in drag was camping it up like a row of proverbial tents and working in the occasional gay obscenity that made the adults (including me) laugh but which went way over the heads of the children. Mainstream drag entertainment is not for children and certainly not for children as young as seven years old.
I am not sure where cross-dressing lies along the bewildering array of recognised sexual identities (by the way, a word of congratulations to Norfolk Constabulary for whittling these down to only 37) but organisations like Drag Queen Story Hour exist to heighten the awareness of very young children about the existence of sexual and preference (for lack of a better word) minorities. Far from trying to inculcate a sense of acceptance of people who are different they are trying to indoctrinate very young children into thinking that this is ‘normal’, everyday and to plant the seeds of guilt in their minds if they do not think that way. Drag Queen Story Hour and similar groups understand well that the minds of young children are at their most malleable and that if they can get them prior to puberty when boobs, periods, erections and nocturnal emissions add to the confusion and occasional misery of growing up they can suggest that they have ‘options’ when it comes to choosing a sexual identity. Options they may have; what they don’t need is an instruction manual.
Drag Storytime is not confined to RCN libraries, it is: “travelling across the country this summer to a library near you!” If you don’t believe me, check here for a list of dates. You have been warned.
*Roger Watson is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing
Lead Correspondent | David Clews is the Lead Correspondent for UNN, with over 20 years of political/campaigning experience and a wealth of social media and communication skills David gets to the heart of what is really important to the real people of the UK.
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