Editor's note: The author writes in response to Village Media's THE BIG READ: ‘Drag Queen Storytime’ has sparked a new chapter of hate in Ontario.
To the editor:
I want to thank BayToday so very much for running the excellent article on Drag performances, and Drag Hate.
It's hard sometimes to understand how ignorant these protesters are. The information has been out publicly forever — the largest group of child sexual offenders are male heterosexuals — always has been. The biggest "grooming" influence on children is the business sector. If you look at how kids were dressed decades ago, in the '50s for example, they were dressed as children; now marketing is directed at kids that sexualizes them practically from birth. They don't get to be kids — just kids — the way we were. And that's on business, and the parents who buy into its pitch.
It's hard sometimes to understand how empty the lives of these protesters are. There are so very many things in our world that NEED protest and opposition — I can't recall ever seeing any of these people at an environmental rally, or a protest against misogyny, racism, or other inequalities. Are those issues too big for them to understand, and tackle, so they have to resort to these falsehoods?
I used to watch the weekly broadcasts of RuPaul's shows when I could catch them. The best part of them, for me, was the interchange in the dressing rooms — the stories, the support, the emotional support among competitors, and their assistance for each other. I just sent her a thank-you on her website for how these shows not just entertained but educated and informed viewers by humanizing the queens.
The tone of those shows was so very very different from the hatred, ignorance, intolerance, and ignorance, that these protesters portray. THEY are the problem. Not the queens.
Again, thank you so much for this piece. Exceptional journalism, accuracy, and a strong pro-social stand.
I am grateful.
Kathleen Kilburn
