Drag show for children postponed after "district event procedures" not followed by Gay Straight Alliance
Teachers Kaitlin Huffman and Jenna Salisbury are listed as points of contact for children "grades 9-12" who wished to participate or watch the now defunct event.
DUNKIRK HIGH SCHOOL, DUNKIRK, NY - A children’s drag show has been postponed for failure to follow “district event procedures.”
A provocative flyer advertising the drag show surfaced on social media, causing quite a stir among members of the community. In a statement via Facebook, Dunkirk City School District indefinitely postponed the event, citing a failure-presumably of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA)-to follow “district event procedures.”
They vowed to reschedule.
The two points of contact on the flier are Jenna Salisbury and Kaitlin Huffman. Both women are teachers at Dunkirk and 2022 graduates of SUNY Fredonia.
The vast majority of online reactions have expressed outrage over the perception that schools are actively pushing a “pro-LGBTQ” agenda. One user encouraged Dunkirk parents to “get involved” in response to “school-sanctioned drag shows for the students.”
Several of the most widely viewed posts in support of the event threaten political action, boasting of large groups of supporters. One commenter alleged to be in “a group of “125 members” and counting. A level of enthusiasm perhaps over-inflated by the support of the American state. Something admitted to by even the most ardent of supporters like Susan McGee (below), an admin in the aforementioned Facebook group, who remarks upon the school’s choice of postponement over outright cancellation:
Drag shows had historically been classified as an adult performance with the consumption of alcohol—an age-restricted activity—and crude, sexualized ‘humor’ inextricably linked to drag-themed venues even today. That is until approximately 2013, when a new form called Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) emerged in San Francisco, CA.
DQSH is a controversial event where so-called “drag performers” read storybooks to children. Typically, though not always, the drag performer will reduce the sexualized nature of the outfit in comparison to a typical drag performance in, say, a nightclub.
One local drag performer continued to use a name with implied vulgarity (Psy Kodick) despite performing in front of children.
Within several short years, organizations that hosted DQSHs moved to include actual burlesque-style drag shows into their repertoires. This time, however, there was a paradigm shift to include children as both performers and audience members.
Upstate New York has emerged as an impromptu front line in the battle between thinly veiled political activists in the education sector and ordinary citizens who oppose their queer-centric ideology in whole or in part.
DQSH and drag shows for children in Western New York that were once held without any resistance have encountered various obstacles ranging from one-time $8,500 ‘security fees,’ the identification of various drag performers’ legal names, and public pressure campaigns.
In response to mere awareness of their activities, many organizations have opted to postpone drag events indefinitely whilst citing various bureaucratic hang-ups. Organizers and performers alike routinely feel compelled to deny accusations of “child grooming” while simultaneously showing aversion to being in the public spotlight. One Adirondack area library was reduced to a single staff member after a DQSH cancellation made local headlines. Despite the cancellation, some locals felt that canceling the event was not enough. They continued to voice concerns in person and via other methods until the staff quit in response.
The library has since closed and re-opened.
Those who are involved in pro-homosexual activism have often invoked the term “hate" to categorize their opponents as irrational and suggest that tolerance is the only path forward for a “healthier” society. In spite of this, secrecy appears to be a common trait for organizers and supporters of drag-themed events for children.
One organization that has consistently found success against queer activism through dogged street protest is the National Justice Party (NJP), a civil rights organization for White Americans that is active in the New York area, and nationwide.
Past actions by the NJP have seen participating nightclubs shut down for their involvement in DQSH events and have also driven others underground or into obscurity in fear of public outrage.
I don't think a society can survive much longer after the educators of the children decide it is more important to promote sexual fetishes and to idealize gratification of all manner of individual idyosyncrasies rather than promote a common culture.