Hollymount Primary School in Raynes Park, South London, hosted a transgender burlesque entertainer last week as part of a series of school events to “celebrate diversity.” The “drag queen,” who wore knee-high leather boots and a low-cut sequined dress, entertained nine-year-olds to teach them how to dance. Later, he also met the five-year-olds, to whom he read books.
Parents on the barricades
As reported by the RIPT website, and as one might expect, as soon as the children told their parents about what had happened, parents immediately voiced their concerns. Some of them turned to the online parental advocacy forum Mumsnet to report the event. In a statement for the Daily Mail, a mother spoke about the discomfort her daughter felt in front of the “drag queen”, and not only that: “Usually we are notified when a stranger visits the school, but in this case this did not happen”.
The survey
Mumsnet conducted a survey that revealed massive parental opposition to such initiatives: 87% of nearly 3,000 respondents called the presence of “drag queens” in elementary schools “inappropriate.” The mother interviewed by the Daily Mail explained that she and other parents searched for content about this transgender man online. “Some of the images” found are “explicitly sexual.” The mother added: “Essentially, he’s an X-rated adult entertainer,” which is an instant red light for parents.
