A New Jersey college cancelled a “drag queen story hour” planned for faculty members’ children during “Bring your child to work” day when staff objected.
Brookdale Community College had been planning a read-along event with a drag performer known as “Harmonica Sunbeam” for months before calling it off the night before in order to “respect the comfort levels of all involved,” school officials said.
The reading event was supposed to be part of the Lincroft college’s “Bring Your Child to Work Day” last Thursday, NJ.com reported.
“I did ask why, but I did not receive an answer,” Sunbeam told the outlet with disappointment. “This had been planned for quite some time so I was shocked that it was canceled the night before.”
The drag queen, who has been performing for over 30 years and doing similar reading events since 2015, has previously come under fire from those who find these events inappropriate for children.
“Here’s the deal, if the program is not for you, don’t attend,” he wrote in a June 2021 Instagram post responding to the backlash. “If you want to worry about kids’ well-being, volunteer at an orphanage, feed the homeless kids around the world, join the Big Brother programs.”
Brookdale, a Monmouth County public college, canceled the drag event at the last minute in order to respect the “diverse viewpoints” of the staff, school spokeswoman Laura Oncea said.
“Bring Your Child to Work Day was a success at Brookdale Community College, where employees and their children engaged and enjoyed our stigma-free, diverse, and inclusive campus atmosphere,” Oncea said Thursday in a statement obtained by NJ.com.
The statement went on to say that the school “opted to respect the comfort levels of all involved”:
As an inclusive community, we understand and respect that parents have the right to decide when and how they want their children to explore diverse ideas. While the Drag Queen read-along was intended to promote inclusivity and acceptance, we recognize and acknowledge the diverse viewpoints within our workforce and have opted to respect the comfort levels of all involved.
The event was only open to the campus community and all children were to be accompanied by their guardians during their visit, officials added.
“Drag queen story hours” and other events featuring males dressed up in exaggerated women’s costumes have taken liberal enclaves around the nation by storm, angering parents who don’t want their children exposed to gender ideology and sexuality in public schools and libraries.
During one recent event in Massachusetts, a drag queen known as “Lil Miss Hot Mess” hosted a “Queer Storytime for Palestine” and instructed children to shout “Free Palestine!”
In October, a drag queen known as “Pickle” was denied entry to a California public library set to host him for a story hour by protestors chanting “leave our kids alone!”