Drag Queens Are Political Now?

Wake me up when we’ve come back to our senses.

After years or not engaging in a debate I didn’t think was one, I made my coming out yesterday about disagreeing with Drag Queens in school. At first, I told my boyfriend, who didn’t get it, and then a community of like-minded women with whom I had a respectful and challenging discussion, but it’s a secret cult I want to cherish and keep for myself.

When I first mentioned my discomfort to my life partner, it was clearly established that I couldn’t point out yet why it made no sense. As he likes to repeat every chance he gets, he does not have kids so he cannot really have an opinion. I call bullshit on that, it’s an easy way out for someone who obviously doesn’t want to have a conversation. Fine, I have an option now, and a Substack.

This debate was not really one (yet) because it had not made the local news (yet). Protests hadn’t happened due to Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) in public schools. Now it has. Protesters weren’t nice, because it’s their right, apparently, and used the F-word (fascist). After reading and hearing about it, my mind was blurrier than ever. Both sides were claiming freedom of speech, but only one has the right to, can you guess?

It’s been said everywhere, DQSH has a mission to open the door to diversity and to teach kids about authenticity (what?) and gender fluidity (re-what?). It’s also been said it’s nothing sexualized and bla-bla-bla. Once again, I will have to call bullshit on this. Caricaturing women in a rigid excessively feminine frame, which we are fighting to get free from, isn’t diversity or exploration. We would hardly let any religious fanatics read stories to our kids in school time, I don’t really see the difference. Diversity isn’t about accepting gay men dressed up as women to entertain kids, women so exaggerated it barely exists in real life, or pretending that this teaching doesn’t create useless confusion in such young brains.

This morning, I was listening to a daily radio-podcast show from Radio-Canada, our national broadcast, and while they were “reporting” on the DQSH protests, they played some clips of our most polarized and controversial political or speaking figures, here in Québec. Of course, as a national radio which is mostly liberal and oriented towards diversity, they bashed at everything that was said in those clips, and painted those characters as far-right extremists, citing our most notorious conspiracists figures and putting everyone who questions DQSH in that same basket.

This truly pissed me off. When I go out and about my day, I don’t constantly question my position on the political spectrum and, unlike the people of the USA, my political opinion isn’t a part of my identity. Maybe it’s a bipartisan thing, because the USA is either red or blue? Whatever, I don’t know my right to left placement because I either agree or disagree with ideas, whoever holds them. It’s easier, lazier even, than the opposite. I don’t have to go and research what my favourite politician or political party thinks of a concept before I take a stance, I just scan it according to my values and decide if I like it or not.

DQSH, I don’t like it. Drag Queens in adult shows? No problem. Sexual diversity in consenting adults? Happy for them. Gender diversity teaching in primary schools, ugh. Is Drag Queen an identity I am not aware of? It doesn’t put me on any political side, or anything-phobe. Maybe earthquake-phobe, I am terrified by those.

Now, we have official career politicians who had to mentione publicly, during an assembly, that stand against what was said in those protests, that it was an attack on LGBTQI2S+ (wow, so many letters, I wasn’t following closely enough…). As our neighbours from the South, we start acting like we do not understand words anymore and any comment on a topic is an attack on the greater ensemble that holds them. We don’t see how inclusive and open we are anymore.

Anyone who dares saying they don’t want their kids being read stories by Drag Queen is a Nazi. So be it.