Electeds Demand Censure After Queens Rep's Drag Queen Story Hour Rant

QUEENS, NY — A group of City Council members are demanding Bayside's representative face censure for suggesting Drag Queen Story Hour events constitute child grooming, officials announced Friday morning.

The Council's LGBTQIA+ Caucus spoke out against Council Member Vickie Paladino — a Republican who represents District 19 in Queens — and called for her removal from committee assignments, according to a released statement.

"As Co-Chairs of the City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, we condemn and denounce Council Member Paladino’s bigoted comments," the caucus said in a joint statement. "They are full of hate, intolerance, and ignorance."

Mayor Eric Adams defended Drag Queen Story Hour in a tweet Thursday night that did not reference Paladino or her statements against the program.

"Drag storytellers, and the libraries and schools that support them, are advancing a love of diversity, personal expression, and literacy that is core to what our city embraces," the mayor tweeted.

Many other New York City politicians were more explicit, publicly condemning Paladino this week after she went on a multi-part rant against Drag Queen Story Hour, a nonprofit where drag queens read books to kids.

In her rant, Paladino falsely suggested that Drag Queen Story Hour — which typically involve reading children's books and sometimes singing songs — includes sexual content.

Paladino suggested the program is used to "groom" kids (befriend them for sexual gain) — an age-old homophobic trope currently experiencing a new wave in right-wing rhetoric, NPR reports.

The Bayside representative also "liked" comments calling Bed-Stuy Council Member Chi Ossé a "groomer" for supporting Drag Queen Story Hour — an action that other Council Members deemed harassment.

Asked how she responds to people saying her words constitute harassment, Paladino said "I'm sorry they feel that way."

"It was never meant as anything personal to any person on the City Council or any person in general."

As for the use of the word grooming, she said: "When you put drag queens in front of five and six year olds, what do you call it? Drag Queen Story Hour is adult entertainment and does not belong anywhere in our school system. Period."

She also pointed out that her office now has a police car parked in front for her security. "My office now requires a police detail due to threats of violence from the leftist hate mob," she tweeted Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, the City Council is investigating what further action may be taken, according to a statement from Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.

"Any form of hate, including transphobia, has no place in this city, and certainly not in this Council," said Speaker Adams. "The Council is looking into what further action may be warranted."

Similarly, the LGBTQIA+ Caucus called the Bayside Republican's anti-Drag Queen Story Hour rant a matter of discrimination and safety.

"This is not an issue of ideological differences, but a question of our collective belief in all New Yorkers’ right to an existence free from discrimination," said the caucus.

"Across the five boroughs, our LGBTQIA+ neighbors routinely face the threat of violence. Statements like those made by Council Member Paladino only intensify that threat and make our city less safe."

Drag Queen Story Hour itself has come under a series of intensifying attacks as of late. On Wednesday, an event in California was disrupted by the Proud Boys, a "far-right hate group" that is now under investigation for a "hate crime," law enforcement officials said. The organization, though, said it isn't going anywhere, and is doubling down on safety efforts.

Related Article: Bayside Rep Spurs Outrage Calling Drag Queen Story Hour 'Grooming'