Salisbury Council overwhelmed with complaints over children’s drag queen story time event
A northern suburbs council admits to having received more than 100 complaints from concerned parents over their story time event which will be hosted by a drag queen.
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More than 100 concerned parents have complained about a northern council’s decision to host a drag queen story time event for children at a local library.
But, a Salisbury Council spokeswoman said their intention with their “one-off Rainbow Storytime event” was to “promote diversity”.
The Salisbury Council has revealed to have received 114 complaints over one of their July School Holiday events called the “Rainbow Storytime” which invites a drag queen performer to read to young children in the local library this upcoming Monday.
The host Drag Queen Fifi LaDouche will be reading two books.
The first picture book is ‘Chicken Divas’ which is about two chooks secretly singing at Club Sparkles every night and the second story is called ‘Just the Way We Are’ which discusses different family compositions.
One person – who asked to remain anonymous – told The Advertiser they didn’t believe Fifi LaDouche was an appropriate host for children.
“Fifi LaDouche is openly an adult performer whose drag shows are described by LGBTIQA+ organisations as containing innuendo and vibrating toys,” the source said.
“Even if this performance has no explicit sexual adult content, it is without question that children are likely to perform web searches and social media searches of the host Fifi La Douche.”
One Nation MLC Sarah Game has revealed she has been approached by a number of concerned parents who are questioning the purpose of the event.
Ms Game said she personally believes it is “totally inappropriate for young children” to be encouraged to question their “gender identity and gender fluidity”.
“There’s a growing concern in the community about teaching children about gender fluidity because we don’t really understand the impact that has on young minds,” Ms Game said.
“They’re adult concepts and it’s confusing for children; I think we just need to allow children to be children, and let them grow up and be who they are without these other influences.”
Additionally, Ms Game has questioned the validity of using public funding towards drag queen readings.
“I don’t think any taxpayer funding should be used for events like this at all,” she said.
“I’ve had numerous people voice their opinions to me that shows with adult themes, such as drag acts are inappropriate for young children – and public funding shouldn’t be used for these events.”
A Salisbury Council spokeswoman said that the “session aims to be fun, friendly and inclusive and shows Council’s support of inclusivity and respect for all members of our diverse community.”
Moreover, the Salisbury Council spokeswoman assured concerned parents that there will not be any adult themes or innuendos during the reading.
“Fifi is simply reading books to attendees, there is not a drag performance as part of the event,” she said.
The State Library of South Australia has hosted DreamBIG’s Drag Queen Storytime in 2019.
Their drag queens Miss Molly and Rita Demore’e enjoyed watching the children’s faces light up as they shared some of their favourite books.
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Originally published as Salisbury Council overwhelmed with complaints over children’s drag queen story time event
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