Since when were drag queens for kids?

A group of Young Liberal students crashed a 'Drag Queen Storytime' event at the Brisbane City Council Library and chanted 'drag queens are not for kids.'

This event was widely condemned on social media with Liberal National Party Councillor Vicki Howard claiming that the protest was 'completely inappropriate'.

University of Queensland Union President Ethan Van Roo Douglas said he was 'deeply disturbed' by reports of the protest.

Really? It was just a couple of conservative students protesting the use of a public amenity to host a contentious event, which is a legitimate concern.

Surely phrases like 'deeply disturbed' should be reserved for horrendous crimes or the horrors of war, what these students did was protest a public event.

Van Roo Douglas went on to say that the UQ Union expects that 'all union office bearers publicly conduct themselves in a manner which does not reflect negatively on the students they represent or violate the responsibilities enshrined within the Union Constitution'.

This seems a tad totalitarian.

The protest happened off campus and, while most of the people involved were members of the UQ Liberal National Club, this seems less an official club event and more a group of like-minded members of the club going off and protesting on their weekends.

The UQ Union President went on to say that the Union would consider'further response at earliest opportunity'.

Just what would 'further response' entail? Suspending the protesters from any official positions in the club? Freezing the funds of the UQ Liberal National Club? Disaffiliating it from campus?

This would set a dangerous precedent where members of clubs affiliated to the UQ Union were expected to accord with the amorphous values of the UQ Constitution even when conducting themselves off campus and outside formal club meetings.

When defending themselves from the subsequent media onslaught, members of the UQ Liberal National Club stressed that they 'stayed outside the room in which it was being held, waited until it was over to make our point, did not respond to the insults which were hurled at us, and left when directed by security'.

So, what is the issue?

Did the protesters go about it in a tactful way? Perhaps not, it may have been wiser to lobby LNP politicians to cancel these Drag Queen Storytime events or launch and E-petition.

Was is it appropriate? Some of the images of the protest leader pointing his finger at one of the drag queens appears aggressive and does not sit well with me.

There are also reports that students were in tears because of the protest. Be that as it may, freedom of speech is more important than comfortable images or the temporary wellbeing of children

Personally, I favour a less combative form of free speech but, to outlaw protests that make some people uncomfortable, would be to outlaw all protests.

This event is being reported like it's a hate-crime but, to me, it just seems like a relatively rare conservative protest against an event deemed to be a Sacred Cow by the political left.

One of the Drag Queens, known as Johnny Valkyrie, said that 'This is not about politics. This is about humanity'.

Either Johnny Valkyrie is unfamiliar with the popular feminist slogan 'the personal is political' or he is wilfully ignoring it.

Put another way, what seems apolitical to one man is political to another.

To Johnny Valkyrie, an LGBTQIA+ activist who has likely felt marginalized by society his whole life, a public library hosting Drag Queen Storytime might be just a necessary step towards educating the public on the diverse gender and sexual identities in our modern and pluralistic society.

Someone else may not have the same line of thought.

They may view Drag Queens as belonging purely in adult spheres such as night clubs and burlesque entertainment and the invitation for them to be present at a public library to be an imposition on families who are not ready to have difficult discussions of gender identity with young kids.

Furthermore, others (such as UQ LNP Club President, Wilson Gavin) might view this as an effort by the LGBTQIA+ to 'indoctrinate and sexualise young children'.

A public library (and the Council that funds that said library) has to be mindful of the diversity of views around a contentious issue as the presence of drag queens in an event aimed at children and it is short-sighted to conclude that the event is not political, merely because Johnny Valkyrie (an LGBTQIA+ activist) claims it is not.

Considerations would have to be made if a Bible Study group approached the Brisbane City Council about doing a Biblical story-time or if a white nationalist group asked to use library space for meetings.

The concern is that the Drag Queen Storytime was promoted by a public library that receives rate-payer money and was held in a public space.

When defending the Drag Queens, Councillor Vicki Howard said that 'This event was presented by experienced entertainers who both have Blue Card registration'.

As if the experience and the certifications of the drag queens was ever in question.

The more fundamental question is whether exposure to cross-dressing is appropriate for young children?

This is a debate that LGBTQIA+ advocates think is settled but, I suspect, remains contentious in broader Australia.

So, what is the problem with airing those grievances at a public library?

Surely the Brisbane City Council Library must be aware that not everyone feels the same way as Johnny Valkyrie about Drag Queen Storytime and that hosting such an event could be upsetting towards other members of the community?

But a worrying trend in our political discourse is that leftist outrage is fostered by the national media whilst conservative outrage is dismissed.

For instance, a number of cinemas refused to screen Cassie Jaye's film, The Red Pillafter online petitions decried it as misogynistic despite the fact that many people wanted to see it.

Yet when members of the UQ LNP Club protest Drag Queen Story-Time, not for a moment do any of the political or media class stop and consider that maybe these opinions represent a real concern held by numerous members of the community.

Instead these insiders hold that it is they, the protesters, that must change, not the Council and the amenities that exist to serve the public.

It is easy to dismiss the protesters as hateful and homophobic, it is a lot harder to consider their points and have a discussion on the use of public spaces and extent that young children should be exposed to diverse sexual identities, which many in society are attempting to normalise.