Hills Shire Council rejects drag queen storytime

A Sydney council has been accused of alienating members of the queer community after it refused to host any drag queen storytime events.

The Liberal-led Hills Shire Council voted 10-2 that it would not host the events, which are popular among other councils in Sydney and interstate, or any “sexualised material designed to target children”.

Drag queen story time at parliament last year.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

The ABC last week cancelled a drag storytime event it had planned at Rockdale Library ahead of Sydney Mardi Gras due to what the broadcaster said was a “hateful and offensive response” to its callout for participation. The ABC said it was considering ways to host the event safely.

The storytimes typically involve a drag queen reading children’s books from the local library to children aged about three to five. But they have attracted protests, including bomb threats made to Manly Library early last year.

Hills Shire Liberal councillor Jerome Cox, who put the motion last Tuesday, said groups could still hire council facilities for drag queen storytime events, but the council would not host them.

“If anyone wants to put this on, they can do it. It’s not saying that this is illegal in The Hills,” he said.

Cox said the council already hosted events for children that encouraged learning. “I don’t think we should be partnering with groups that have an agenda, social or religious,” he said.

But Greens councillor Mila Kasby, one of two to oppose the motion, said it “alienated members of the LGBTQI+ community” and showed they were not supported by the council.

“We know this motion is not really an objection to reading books, wearing colourful clothes or playing music,” she said. “It is an objection to queer people and an implication that their presence is a danger to children.”

Members of the LGBTQI+ organisation Pride in Protest and other locals attended Tuesday’s meeting with flags and banners to express their support for the LGBTQI+ community and local drag performers, and yelled “shame” and “bigot” at Cox when he spoke.

Pride in Protest spokesperson Esther Niamh said the motion suggested drag performance “inappropriately targets children, placing the diverse art form in the same category as ‘sexualised material’. This is a blatant misrepresentation used in service of a larger fear-mongering campaign”.

Cox’s motion came in response to a call from the peak body for councils, Local Government NSW, for councils to encourage and facilitate LGBTQ+ inclusive community events, and to pay drag performers in full if such events were cancelled.

There have been repeated attacks and threats made towards other drag story time events around Sydney and Melbourne, leading to councils cancelling the events. City of Monash Council cancelled a drag queen storytime after neo-Nazi protests last year. Shepparton Council cancelled its drag queen storytime due to safety concerns following a protest the week before.

But some councils are still determined to go forward with such events. The Inner-West Council has hosted “Storytime with Joyce” in Marrickville Library and Randwick City Council is hosting “Rainbow Families Spark in the Park” to celebrate Mardi Gras in early March.

Kasby has said that the Greens will continue to involve and support the LGBTQI+ community within The Hills, hoping to increase the awareness that everyone benefits from events like drag story time.

“Many people in the Hills do not agree with these outdated and harmful views. You are valued, accepted and welcome here,” she said.

“Council should consult with informed parents and families, early childhood educators and our local LGBTQIA+ community before making decisions on their behalf.”