by Aaron Warner
Every other Tuesday evening in Hartford/White River Junction the town holds its Select Board meeting with the first few minutes open to public comments. This week’s meeting saw several members of the town chiding Board Member Lannie Collins for his statement made regarding the controversial event sweeping the nation – Drag Queen Story Hour.
Pride Center Vermont and the Vermont Chapter Drag Queen Story Hour recently attempted to hold the event at the Northern Stage theatre in downtown White River, however it was disrupted due to a bomb threat which turned out to be a hoax. The threat was issued via email and was said to have come from an encrypted Russian server which leaves the question – who perpetrated the hoax? (For more on the rise of hate crime hoaxes read this book)
The comment controversy began with board member Ally Tufenkjian referring to a recent drag event as “a positive experience” to which Collins replied ““I take deference to it being labeled a positive experience because some people in our community would not view those events at Northern Stage as a positive experience,” Collins said during Selectboard comments earlier this month. “That is a personal expression and is not shared by all members of the board or all residents within the town. And I don’t think it’s appropriate (for Selectboard members) to make personal statements about whether it is positive or negative.”
Though rarely attended by townsfolk, and rarely viewed online due to their pedantic and bureaucratic nature, this meeting saw a relatively packed house by Hartford standards. It seems word got out Mr. Collins exercised his right to voice his concern on behalf of those in town who share his apprehension given the event is not only categorical grooming of children but has been riddled with child sex offenders around the country. Collins detractors either are unaware or simply aren’t concerned the children’s safety may be compromised in the name of diversity and inclusion.
A look at the performers that evening finds Drag Queens Emoji Nightmare and Katniss Everqueer. One look at their social media and it’s obvious they promote highly sexualized behavior.
Emoji Nightmare is a man from tiny Cambridge Vermont whose real name is Justin Marsh. Marsh grew up in Cambridge on a dairy farm where he lives to this day. He read a child’s book last year at the House of Representatives’ devotional exercise. His day job is as a financial advisor while his evening and hobbyist passion seems to be all things drag.
Katniss’ bio mentions her work with autistic and disabled children, among other interests, but another concerning statement tells us she likes to portray Silence of the Lambs and Lot’s O Huggin’ Bear. Who is Lot’s O Huggin’ Bear? The Disney Fandom page describes the character as:
“…the main antagonist of the animated film Toy Story 3. He is a large, magenta pink strawberry-scented teddy bear who ruled Sunnyside Daycare with the iron fist of a prison warden, despite his advertised sweet nature.”
Furthermore, I don’t think anyone takes issue with older people, be they teens or adults, helping children learn to read. However improving literacy is not what Drag Queen Story Hour is about. They even say as much:
“DQSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive and unabashedly queer role models,” RADAR Productions writes about the program on its website. “In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress-up is real.”
In other words, having a stable identity is “rigid” and looking to those who defy societal norms as “role models” is to be lauded as good for children. This is only one aspect of the event adults who object take issue with.
The more concerning issue, especially for those who understand predatory behavior, is the same setting allows grown men to be disguised as women to unwitting children. Men have long been the predatory class when it comes to sex crimes against children. The Stop It Now site reports “males made up almost 88% of perpetrators”. There is not a more perfect scenario for a predator than to be able to access children in disguise as something innocent, especially if the disguise includes convincing parents they are there to help the child.
This is not to say Justin or Kat are predators but their chosen method for “queering children” also happens to be ideal for those who would sexually abuse them. Grooming requires time and a necessary drawing down of one’s guardedness, both the child’s and parents’. This is why predators gravitate toward positions like coaching, day care, clergy and school jobs because they need to have the appearance of wanting to help children.
A counter argument I heard is “but what about priests”? Or for that matter, what about coaches and teachers? Should we prevent them from being around children? No, but they also aren’t posing as something they aren’t nor specifically targeting children from a sexualized manner while drag queens are – deliberately. Those other vocations also require background checks – DQSH does not.
Not all drag queens support these story hours, nor do all members of the LGBTQ+ community. Those outspoken against it agree with their hetero-normative peers it’s inappropriate for children and clearly a method of grooming. The group Gays Against Groomers grew out of this concern. Their statement:
Still, what proof is there that predators would use such an innocent and fun event to target children? Here are just four instances out of many:
- Judge who headed ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ sponsor arrested on child porn charges
- Houston Public Library admits registered child sex offender read to kids in Drag Queen Storytime
- Oregon school teacher who mentored 11 year old drag queen sentenced for child sex crimes
- One is Houston man William Travis Dees, a.k.a. Lisa Lott, who was incarcerated and listed as a high-risk sex offender in 2004 after he abused multiple children ages 4, 5, 6 and 8.
General information about targeting of children:
- the US accounts for 800,000 missing child cases each year.
- Alaska is the state with the highest number of missing people, including both adults and children. The state of Arizona takes second place, followed by Oregon, Washington, and Vermont.
- The average age for a minor to enter the sex trade is 12 – 14.
- Children with disabilities are 2.9 times more likely than children without disabilities to be sexually abused
- Children with intellectual and mental health disabilities appear to be the most at risk, with 4.6 times the risk of sexual abuse as their peers without disabilities.
- In as many as 93 percent of child sexual cases, the child knows the person that commits the abuse.
- 60% of children who are sexually abused do not disclose
(source: Stop It Now)Lastly, and perhaps most shocking, the popularity of DQSH extends overseas especially in the UK where the incidence of sex crimes against children is now most commonly perpetrated by other children.
The author is a VDC columnist and Upper Valley regional reporter. He lives in Hartford, VT where he owns two award-winning small businesses. He is a graduate of Leadership Upper Valley class of 2010.