Drag Queen Story Hour: Queer Literacy in Early Childhood

• In Event: Reading (to) the Children: Drag Pedagogy and Queer Performance at School

Abstract

Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) is just what it sounds like—drag queens reading stories to children in libraries, schools, and bookstores. DQSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models. In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress up is real.
In this session, several highly-respected local San Francisco-area drag queens will demonstrate a Drag Queen Story Hour. Drag Queen Story Hour was created in 2015 in San Francisco as a program that brings together two seemingly-incompatible constituencies—drag queens and children—to read books, sing songs, play dress-up, and engage in crafts.  Though certainly not the first event to feature drag queens and children, the recent and widespread emergence of DQSH grew from queer author Michelle Tea’s desire to connect her child with queer culture. As the then-Executive Director of the San Francisco-based RADAR Productions, Tea launched the program in 2015, and it was quickly replicated by both established organizations and DIY events around the world. In 2019, it is estimated that thousands of readings have been organized in hundreds of cities and towns globally, from Atlanta to Anchorage, AK; Calgary, AB to Kolkata, India; and San Juan, PR to Singapore. Most coordinate under an incorporated nonprofit organization DQSH, though some also operate independently and use different names.
The majority of events take place in public settings (e.g. public libraries and cafes) rather than schools, but some parents and teachers have organized classroom events. Many of the elements of Drag Queen Story Hour preserve that which is common to early schooling: there are bright colors, and read-aloud storybooks focused on themes of friendship and, kindness, and finding one’s voice. And often there are activities that involve singing, dancing, crafting, coloring, and imaginative play. There is an adult teacher leading a classroom of young students. What is different, though, is that the teacher is a drag queen. A drag queen is not a typical teacher: she is loud, extravagant, playful—and she encourages children to think for themselves and break the rules. She is the exponential product of Ms. Frizzle-meets-RuPaul. She is a queer teacher.
The demonstration of Drag Queen Story Hour will include a storybook read aloud by a local drag queen, a model of an arts-based activity for young children that draws on imagination and creativity, and practical guidance on coordinating Drag Queen Story Hours in a school, library, or other public educational setting. The goal of the session is for participants to walk away with a clear sense of the components of DQSH, their uses in the education of young children and their teachers, and how to coordinate a DQSH in their own location.

Author

• Harris Kornstein, New York University