Philadelphia Sets Largest ‘Drag Queen Story Time’ Guinness World Record

RIVERSIDE, CA - APRIL 29: Drag Queens Kelly K, left, Scalene OnixXx and Athena Monet Kills
Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Olivia Rondeau

The city of Philadelphia has set a new Guinness World Record for having the “largest attendance at a drag queen story time reading” in honor of LGBTQ Pride Month, the organizers said.

The event was held Saturday at the National Constitution Center where “several hundred people helped establish” the record, WHYY reported. 

Drag queens read children’s books to 263 people at the story time, which was hosted by Philadelphia Gay News and sponsored by Visit Philadelphia, the city’s official tourism program. 

A representative from Guinness World Records came to formally adjudicate the record-setting. 

“Philadelphia is where our country was founded, where the Declaration of Independence was debated and signed and where some of the most significant LGBTQIA+ moments in U.S. history took place,” said Mark Segal, publisher of Philadelphia Gay News in a statement obtained by NBC 10 Philadelphia. “Creating history-making moments like we’ve done today, hosted on land synonymous with our country’s fight for fundamental rights and freedom, serves as a powerful reminder of the resiliency, talent and culture that make up the fabric of our great American city.”

Some social media users pointed out that fewer than 300 people turning up to a drag queen story hour event in a city of nearly 1.6 million shows that “a vocal minority is trying to sexualize kids.”

Guinness also has a record for the most-attended drag brunch, with 412 people convening in New York City for a June 2023 event hosted by H&M, Marsha P. Johnson Institute, and Gayletter.

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