Queens Pols Celebrate Drag Queen Story Hour In Jackson Heights

JACKSON HEIGHTS, QUEENS — Queens officials on Thursday joined drag queen Angel Elektra at the Jackson Heights public library to celebrate new funding for Drag Queen Story Hour.

The city's 2019-2020 budget devotes $25,000 in funding for the story-time event, including $5,000 each from City Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer and Daniel Dromm for story hours in their districts.

Drag Queen Story Hour, a New York-based nonprofit, will also use the funds to expand its bilingual readings and story hours for kids with autism and other special needs throughout Queens.

"Drag Queen Story Hour provides all kids with a space to be themselves and to see queer role models—something I desperately needed as a kid," Van Bramer, who represents Astoria and Long Island City, said.

"Drag Queen Story Hour is a fun and fabulous way of encouraging children to read," Dromm, who represents Jackson Heights, said. "It is also a great way to teach them to embrace our society's differences and diversity."

The national success of Drag Queen Story Hour has spurred outrage from protesters across the country who say tax dollars should not fund drag queen events for children.

But when a Brooklyn father last month led his own protest of the story-time event, calling it inappropriate for children, dozens of New Yorkers fought back.