California lawmaker jokes about making 'Drag Queen 101’ part of K-12 curriculum

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter
'Miss Kitty Litter' reading to children at a 'Drag Queen Story Hour' in the Austin Public Library in Austin, Texas.
"Miss Kitty Litter" reading to children at a "Drag Queen Story Hour" in the Austin Public Library in Austin, Texas. | Courtesy of Mass Resistance

A California state lawmaker has joked about making the controversial "Drag Queen Story Time" trend a requirement for the K-12 curriculum in schools, a response to a Texas legislator who wants to ban children from participating in or attending drag shows. 

Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat who represents San Francisco, tweeted the suggestion Tuesday in response to a pledge from Texas Republican Rep. Bryan Slaton to introduce legislation that would ban drag shows and other sexually inappropriate displays in the presence of children in his state.

Slaton proposed the idea Monday, two days after videos from a "family-friendly" drag event at the gay bar Mr. Misster in Dallas went viral.

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

In reference to Slaton's statement, Wiener replied: "This guy just gave me a bill idea: Offering Drag Queen 101 as part of the K-12 curriculum. Attending Drag Queen Story Time will satisfy the requirement."

Slaton responded to Wiener: "This man is a California legislator. He is clearly sick. Please join me in praying for him."

Wiener told Fox News the tweet was a joke. The post remained online as of Thursday morning. Wiener's office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday by The Christian Post.

The openly gay Weiner serves as the chair of the California Senate's Housing Committee and formerly chaired the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus.

The lawmaker is known for previously sponsoring SB 145, a bill that removes the requirement for adults to register as a sex offender after committing certain sex acts with minors within a 10-year age difference.

Following its passage in 2020, Wiener's office insisted that SB 145 "does not legalize any kind of sex with a minor and does not change the potential sentence for having sex with an underage person. 

"Rather, the bill simply gives judges the ability to evaluate whether or not to require registration as a sex offender."

Wiener's office maintained California law did not require the placement of adults who engaged in vaginal intercourse with a minor between the ages of 14 and 17 on the sex offender registry. On the other hand, state law required all adults who engaged in oral and anal intercourse with minors to be placed on a sex offender registry. 

"This distinction in the law — which is irrational, at best ... disproportionately targets LGBTQ young people for mandatory sex offender registration for forms of intercourse in which they engage." 

Wiener was also on hand for this year's annual Easter "Hunky Jesus" costume contest in San Francisco, which featured an egg hunt for children and a variety show featuring men in drag and performances from several local acts.

He tweeted that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the self-described "order of queer and trans nuns" which runs the event, "do so much for our community & help remind us what the spirit of San Francisco is about - celebrating this beautiful tapestry of a city."

Other states are considering legislative action following the Dallas drag show controversy. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signaled he would be open to legislation that would ban taking children in the state to drag shows.

Calling the Dallas event "really, really disturbing," DeSantis lamented the effort "targeting these kids with all this stuff" at a news conference Wednesday.

"It used to be kids would be off-limits," DeSantis said. "It used to be everybody agreed with that and now it just seems like there's a concerted effort to be exposing kids more and more to things that are not age-appropriate."

DeSantis' remarks about the Dallas drag show followed a question from a reporter about Republican state Rep. Anthony Sabatini's call for an "emergency special session" to ban drag shows for children. 

Was this article helpful?

Help keep The Christian Post free for everyone.

By making a recurring donation or a one-time donation of any amount, you're helping to keep CP's articles free and accessible for everyone.

$25/month$50/quarter$100/yearOne-time

We’re sorry to hear that.

Hope you’ll give us another try and check out some other articles. Return to homepage.