UPDATE (2:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 6, 2023): Mary Ellen Siegler from Massachusetts Family Institute provided the following statement to NewBostonPost by email on Tuesday, June 6:
Drag queens are adult sexual performers and should not be given a platform to influence minors nor should they be held up as role models. This event is being billed as an introduction to drag culture and instruction on how to get started in the world of drag. Drag culture includes illicit sex, drugs, and nudity. Is this really something parents want to introduce their kids to? Parents should think twice before allowing their children to participate in this event. Also, libraries should stop actively enabling the sexualization of minors by hosting these harmful events.
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Stoneham Public Library, in conjunction with several other Massachusetts public libraries, is planning to host a virtual drag event for teens called “Dishing out Drag with Giganta Smalls.”
The Facebook post advertises the event for teen-agers to spend time with Smalls “as she dishes on what the life of a drag performer is like.”
The post also suggests that the teens might “pick up a few tips on getting started in the world of drag!”
Giganta Smalls is a New England-based drag queen who does public and private events, including drag time story hours. Smalls read in February at a drag time story hour at Amherst public library.
Smalls, in an email message to NewBostonPost on Monday, May 22, said the event will “mostly be a talk back/Q & A type event for local teens/young adults in the area. There will be no book readings or performances and will mostly focus on my creative process.”
“The discussion will mostly be guided by the participants as I am happy to answer any appropriate questions they may have,” Smalls continued.
Asked as to why Smalls does drag events like the one being hosted, Smalls answered: “I do drag because it’s fun. I get to fully embrace everything about me that mainstream society tells me is wrong (ex: my more effeminate demeanor, my queer identity, my plus size body). Drag allows me to celebrate my interests and perform in a way that I curate completely.”
Rowley Public Library, Haverhill Public Library, and Wilmington Memorial Library are also hosting the drag event.
NewBostonPost contacted administrators for the libraries by email recently.
Wilmington Memorial Library library director Tina Stewart told NewBostonPost by email that the event “is in keeping with the celebration of Pride month and with the library’s strategic plan ‘to increase awareness of national events celebrating diversity.’ ”
“Wilmington Memorial Library is a welcoming place for everyone in the community,” she said.
Spokesmen for the other three libraries did not respond by deadline.
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