Call it Drag Queen Story Time 2.0.
To help the community celebrate its diversity and to encourage young people to read, West Virginia University’s LGBTQ+ Center will present Drag Queen Storytime & Show from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the Gluck Theater in the Mountainlair.
“We expect a nice crowd and maybe some people who are unhappy will be outside, but hopefully they won’t scare the kids,” said Cris Mayo, director of the center and a WVU professor of women’s and gender studies.
“This is an event about encouraging reading, family togetherness and learning, and I would really like people to understand the generosity of drag queens in our community makes such events possible,” she said.
The event Thursday at the 270-seat Gluck theater will be divided into three sessions. From 6-6:45 p.m. local drag queens Robin Hearts-Love and Dimitira Blackwell will take turns reading two classic children’s books they chose for the program, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and “Stella Luna.” Both Hearts-Love and Blackwell were scheduled to read to children at the Morgantown Public Library in November. That event, however, was canceled after threats of violence were posted online.
When the drag queens finish with their stories, WVU undergraduates will read selections from LGBTQ-inclusive children’s literature.
The final portion of the program will be a drag show, which will include a question-and-answer session, dancing and lip-synching.
“The drag community has been at the forefront of educational and charity initiatives in all of our communities, and we think not everyone is aware of that,” Mayo said. “Lately, unfortunately, there has been an increase in hatred and bias, and we think it is important to show this complex tradition drag that brings together community service with more traditional drag shows.
“Our intention was to do an evening that would start with a family-friendly event, then we’re doing an intermission talking about LGBTQ-related children’s literature, and then as the audience changes from a children-and-family crowd to a grown-up crowd, the queens will do performances and question and answers about the history and meaning of drag.”
For more information on the show, email the LGBTQ+ Center at lgbtq@mail.wvu.edu.
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