Drag Queen Story Hour

Drag Queen Story Hour
GenreChildren's event
Location(s)Public libraries
Inaugurated2015 (2015)
FounderMichelle Tea
Participants
Activity
People
Websitewww.dragstoryhour.org

Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH), Drag Queen Storytime, Drag Story Time, and Drag Story Hour are children's events first started in 2015 by author and activist Michelle Tea in San Francisco with the goals of promoting reading and diversity. The events, usually geared for children aged 3–11, are hosted by drag queens who read children’s books, and engage in other learning activities in public libraries.

Jonathan Hamilt, who co-founded the New York chapter as a nonprofit, said that as of June 2019, DSH has 35 U.S. and five international chapters. The program strives to "capture the imagination and play of gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models".

Drag Story Hour events have caused public debate over the suitability of drag for child audiences. Critics say it contributes to the “sexualization” or “grooming” of children; proponents argue that these complaints amount to a "moral panic" and anti-LGBT prejudice spurred on by "right-wing misinformation". The backlash against such events has been responsible for the popularization of the term "drag panic", modelled after the older term "gay panic".