RuPaul, who hosts MTV's “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” took the opportunity to salute drag queen storytime readers after winning another Emmy for his show.
"If a drag queen wants to read you a story at a library, listen to her," he said. "Knowledge is power, and if someone tries to restrict your access to power, they are trying to scare you!"
The statue marks his reign as the most-awarded host in Emmys' history.
Hostility has infiltrated libraries around the country during Drag Queen Story Hour, which is when books are read aloud by the entertainers “through the glamorous art of drag.” Conservatives sexualize it by talking about drag queens as dangerous deviants attempting to press an agenda on children.
The incidents have found the performers in the crosshairs of a culture war where efforts are mobilizing to quell the activities with neo-Nazis threatening violence.
In New York, protesters prayed outside a library where a drag queen named Flame sang the ABCs. Outside Chicago, staffers at the operant gate event whispered it came "from the devil." And in a San Francisco suburb, men hurled homophobic and transphobic slurs.
"The adults are frightened, and it's about their prejudices," Dr. Joe Kort, a gender specialist and founder of The Center for Relationship and Sexual Help told The Detroit Free Press. "Children can handle watching a drag queen reading a story. It's fun. It's dress-up. They don't get confused when they do this."
