Bayside Rep Spurs Outrage Calling Drag Queen Story Hour 'Grooming'

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — A Bayside Council Member spurred outrage this week by suggesting Drag Queen Story Hour constitutes "child grooming and sexualization" and threatening to cut funding to educators that host the beloved events.

"Adult drag performers have NO BUSINESS in our schools," tweeted Council Member Vickie Paladino. "Any school in my district participating in 'drag queen' degeneracy risks losing their funding."

Paladino's message Monday came in response to news that Drag Queen Story Hour, a nonprofit where drag queens read books to kids, had earned over $200,000 in city contracts during the past four years.

In a subsequent rant, Paladino falsely suggested that Drag Queen Story Hour include sexual content.

"Kids deserve a quality education free from political manipulation and sexual content," she said. "Progressives may have no problem with child grooming and sexualization, but I do."

Events with Drag Queen Story Hour — who did not respond to Patch's request for comment — typically involve reading children's books and sometimes singing songs.

The accusation that LGBTQ people groom children — befriend them for sexual gain — is an age-old trope currently experiencing a new wave in right-wing rhetoric, NPR reports.

"It's a despicable attack, but it's not a new tactic," LGBTQ rights activist Evan Wolfson told NPR. "This is a classic trope of dehumanization and fear that has been used against gay people decade after decade after decade."

Paladino's tweets (which garnered a fair share of homophobic and transphobic responses) sparked an almost-instant backlash from many New York City politicians who said Paladino was perpetuating hatred.

Council Member Lynn Schulman told Patch in a written statement she was deeply disturbed by Paladino's comment.

"As a proud lesbian member of the NYC Council from Queens, I am saddened that a Council colleague would fuel hatred for any group that doesn't fit what is considered 'the norm,'" the Forest Hills representative wrote.

"Intolerance only fuels violence as we have seen in attacks against the Jewish and AAPI communities, along with many others."

Other New York City politicians called Paladino's rant "revolting," "cruel, uninformed, and dangerous" and "homophobic."

Paladino does not appear to have been deterred by her colleague's criticism.

On Thursday morning, Brooklyn Council Member Lincoln Restler accused her of harassment for liking a comment calling Bed-Stuy Council Member Chi Ossé a "groomer" for supporting Drag Queen Story Hour.

"My colleague in the City Council, Vickie Paladino, is actively ‘liking’ the comments of people calling me a groomer," Ossé tweeted. "…in the month of Pride."

A representative from Ossé's office also accused Paladino of harassment.

"In any workspace, her vile attack would be considered clear-cut harassment," the representative said. "She is an embarrassment to the body in which we serve, and each day that passes without her facing accountability will diminish our stature as a compassionate, representative legislature."

Asked if Paladino's comments constitute harassment under Council guidelines, the City Council's press office directed Patch 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 Adams in the statement. "The Council is looking into what further action may be warranted."

Paladino's rant is among a series of intensifying attacks against Drag Queen Story Hour. One event in California was recently disrupted by the Proud Boys, a "far-right hate group" that is now under investigation for a "hate crime," law enforcement officials said.

Jonathan Hamilt, executive director of Drag Queen Story Hour, told Rolling Stone that these kinds of attacks are part of the right wing's anti-LGBTQ goals. The storytelling program, though, isn't going anywhere and is instead focusing on security, he told the site.

Paladino's office did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment, but the Bayside Republican has remained active on Twitter, doubling down on her claims and arguing that she's serving the interests and desires of her district's students and parents.

"What I have heard from MY constituents is that they have had enough of progressive radicalism and gender confusion in the classroom," Paladino wrote.

Some of Paladino's constituents in District 19 said they disagree.

"If any group/orgs/individuals want to have a drag story hour in Vickie Paladino's district - let me know," one local parent tweeted. "I can help organize, raise money, whatever."

"Amen!" another commented. "Let me know if you need help."