Miss Ginger Devine burst onstage in a dazzling pink dress before an audience of more than 100 parents and children at the Downtown Reno Library—and asked a question.
“Are you a princess? I’m a queen!” she said.
The children and adults laughed. Devine’s smile was framed by her copper-red mane. She had a book in her hand. The 2023 series of drag queen story hours was off and running.
The event, in its fifth year at Washoe County libraries, features drag queens reading books to kids. The readings are beloved by many parents and children, but reviled by some adults who have made it a flashpoint in the culture wars. Library officials said the events are a platform for performers to use their storytelling skills to engage children in reading. The sessions also promote diversity and inclusivity, they said, by having queer role models as storytellers.
“We do hundreds of story times a year, and generally reflected in those story times is the cisgender mother and father with children,” said Jamie Hemingway, a library system spokeswoman. (Cisgender refers to people whose gender identity matches their biological sex at birth.) “We wanted to add a program that would represent some of the families that don’t fit that mold.”
The story times are funded by Our Center and local donations; no tax dollars are involved. The first installment was on June 15 at the Downtown Reno Library, and the second on June 17 at the North Valleys Library. The third and final session is slated for Saturday, July 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sparks Library.
The excitement of sharing stories
While the children, most younger than 6, waited for the stories to begin, they burned off some energy by playing games in the library’s auditorium, decorated with rainbow balloons, streamers and a message on a whiteboard: “Welcome Drag Story Time.”
More than a dozen children were invited onstage to act out the story of Five Little Speckled Frogs. The kids hopped around, mimicking amphibians before pretending to jump into the “pool” of the audience’s enthusiastic applause.
Devine made her entrance and read Just Add Glitter by Angela DiTerlizzi and Samantha Cotterill. Every time the story repeated its phrase “just add glitter,” Devine prompted the audience to say the phrase along with her.
Interactive songs punctuated the time between readings. Kevin the Unicorn: It’s Not All Rainbows by Jessika von Innerebner came next. That book, librarians said, normalizes expressing feelings by describing a unicorn having a bad day. Devine then read Harriet Gets Carried Away by Jessie Sima, about a girl who absolutely adores wearing costumes.
Miss Ginger Devine engaged the audience through her animated and lively storytelling and by asking the kids to predict what would happen in the stories. She kept in character as some of the younger children raced around among the seats.
The books are among 42 chosen by librarians for their popularity and because they fit the event’s themes of love and self-acceptance. Devine chose the books she read based on her own guidelines: One has to be about unicorns; one has to be engaging and interactive for a wide audience; and diversity must be represented in all of the stories.
“When I’m choosing the stories, I want there to be diverse representation,” said Devine, also known as Christopher Daniels, the former executive director of the Good Luck Macbeth theater in Reno. “It can be about race, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, but also familial makeup.”
Devine isn’t limited to reading. She engaged the audience through her animated and lively storytelling and by asking the kids to predict what would happen in the stories. She kept in character as some of the younger children raced around among the seats. After the storytelling session, children went upstairs to engage in crafts, coloring and selfies with “the Queen.”
Outside the library, the streets were also a stage for performance art.
Protest signs and rainbow umbrellas
This year, drag queen story hour also attracted volunteers from Our Center, a nonprofit resource center for Northern Nevada’s LGBTQ+ community. They twirled umbrellas decorated in rainbow colors and were a counterpoint to a small group of people who were demonstrating against the event.
The protestors, who believe drag queen story sessions are inappropriate for children, tried to persuade some of the parents who arrived not to attend. They took photos and video of the line outside the library. They displayed signs to passing motorists and prayed; some read Bible verses.
“The impact on children is negative, because they don’t need to be exposed to the caricature of women in such a way,” said Victoria Myer, a protestor. “I don’t understand why we need to send out adult material to present to our children.”
Some opponents of the event tried to falsely equate homosexuality and drag with pedophilia, and claimed that interacting with men in women’s clothing is “grooming” children to be gay. Opposition to the events is championed by the Republican Party in some states, including in Nevada.
In May, Montana became the first state in the nation to ban anyone dressed in drag from reading to children in public libraries and schools. The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, this year has tracked more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills working their way through state legislatures, with 45 of those measures aimed at making drag performances illegal.
Devine, who has heard all the arguments and herself has been the target of hate, said the storytelling sessions are about reading, not politics.
“When (story hours) first started, I was working for Sierra Arts Foundation as an arts-integration specialist,” Devine said. “I would go into the school district and teach theatrical strategies to teachers as a vehicle to get children engaged in reading.”
Parents who attended the storytelling session on June 15 said they support the story hours and the event’s message of promoting reading and learning about diversity. They said parents, not strangers, should decide whether or not their children should attend the story times.
“It’s a great event. It’s a part of the community, and so are we, so we want to be here for that,” said parent Jasmine Kleiber. “Exposure helps with the acceptance and support our children will have for everyone. It’s about being a part of this together.”
Another parent, Jacob Abell, said the event was enlightening for his children and himself.
“My brother-in-law is gay, so there was a side of things that I never used to see,” he said. “With this, I’ve seen so much of it that I’m pretty comfortable. I didn’t even think about the political ramifications of such a thing.”
Kids got the message.
“(This event) shows that there’s other things in the world,” said Elle Davis, an elementary school student who was one of the older kids in attendance. “Not everything is black and white; there are rainbows and colors around, too.”
Opponents won’t be happy, but the story hours will continue, library officials said.
“There were 70-plus people in the room today, and all the others that come and support who really want this,” said Hemingway. “We want to keep bringing it here to them annually,”
The story hours are free. Children attending the event must be accompanied by an adult, and adults must have a child attending with them.
Our Center also accepts volunteers to staff the story times. Details can be found at www.ourcenterreno.org.
This story was edited on June 29 to correct the information about the funders of drag queen story hour.
My Mom was an antiques dealer when I was a child. I was exposed to many of her gay customers and fellow antique folks. When I was a little older I came to realize what gay people were and had no problem with it because they were mostly nice friendly people. Never did anyone of them try to molest, assault, or “groom” me. I’m not sure what Jesus would say to the people that hate LGBTQ+ people other than love they neighbor and stop freaking out.