SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: King County Library System uses tax dollars for Drag Queen Story Time

Sep 10, 2018, 1:48 PM

binders, Renton Library, Wi-Fi...

The Renton Library is one of the places offering free Wi-Fi from the parking lot. (Courtesy of Renton Historical Museum)

(Courtesy of Renton Historical Museum)

I’m a King County taxpayer. I send a healthy amount of money every single year to the King County treasury through my property taxes. And a big chunk of that money goes to the King County Library System.

RELATED: King County Library System wastes $9,000 on bike repair stations

I saw an event Monday morning at the Renton Library, part of the King County Library System. It’s a “fun-filled hour of stories, songs, crafts, snacks, and photos” sponsored by Friends of the Renton Libraries. You take your kids there for story time suitable for infants, pre-schoolers, and toddlers. It sounds wonderful for parents who want to get out of the house on a Monday morning.

Oh, there’s one other thing I’ve got to mention — the name of the event is “Drag Queen Story Time.” A well-known local drag queen, Sparkle Leigh, was the host of the event. Dressed up in long green hair and makeup,  he — a biological male — read the stories to kids as a drag queen and then took photos with the kids.

I went on YouTube to see if I could find any videos of Sparkle Leigh. In one video, he is playing Mario Cart with a friend while smoking a joint and using a bunch of expletives, such as “Bring it, m-f-er!”

Can anyone in their right mind explain to me how our taxpayers are paying for Drag Queen Story Time at the Renton Library?

We called the Renton Library for a statement, but they said they were too busy because over 100 people showed up for Drag Queen Story Time.

That was honest to goodness one of the most depressing things I’ve ever heard in my life.

They couldn’t talk because they were too jam-packed with Drag Queen Story Time at the Renton Library. These are 100 very sick parents who took their children to this event.

If you want to be a drag queen, I couldn’t care less. But for the King County Library System to decide that it’s somehow appropriate to indoctrinate children — because indoctrination is exactly what this is. We’ve got to normalize this for the infants, the toddlers, the pre-schoolers.

I watched a great video this weekend about how all of these adult social issues are being fought through our kids. And it’s not healthy, it’s not emotionally healthy. Have you seen the suicide rates for transgender kids? They’re high. And there are two possible approaches for that. One is to have drag queens telling our kids stories when they’re 2 years old, and then our kid will decide to be one. Or maybe we shouldn’t just say that gender is fluid. Maybe we shouldn’t pander and encourage kids to believe there is no such thing as biological gender diversity. We’re not serving our kids at all by saying there’s no dividing line and no differences between boys and girls.

Once you’re 18, do whatever the heck you want. But to have our government, our public libraries, take this issue and decide to put it out there for children is straight-up propaganda. And, forgetting about the drag queen part, what kind of role model is this person who smokes weed and uses swear words on social media? I’m not sure that’s the best person to read stories to toddlers. Why do my tax dollars have to pay for this?

People celebrate outside Versailles Cuban Cuisine after President Donald Trump announced Venezuelan...

Associated Press

Venezuelans in the US are torn between joy and worry after ousting of Maduro

NEW YORK (AP) — In the days since the Trump administration ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a late-night military raid, Alejandra Salima has spoken to fellow Venezuelan migrants in her role as an advocate. Like her, most voice feelings that seesaw between joy and trepidation, she said. The removal of Maduro is “a first […]

2 hours ago

This photo provided by Mattel Inc. shows the new autistic Barbie doll. (Mattel Inc. via AP)Credit: ...

Associated Press

Mattel adds an autistic Barbie to doll line devoted to showcasing diversity and inclusion

NEW YORK (AP) — Mattel Inc. is introducing an autistic Barbie on Monday as the newest member of its line intended to celebrate diversity, joining a collection that already includes Barbies with Down syndrome, a blind Barbie, a Barbie and a Ken with vitiligo, and other models the toymaker added to make its fashion dolls […]

3 hours ago

Bystanders film a federal immigration officer in their car Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (...

Associated Press

George Floyd and Renee Good: 5 years between Minneapolis videos, and confusion has increased

Five years ago, video images from a Minneapolis street showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd as his life slipped away ignited a social movement. Now, videos from another Minneapolis street showing the last moments of Renee Good’s life are central to another debate about law enforcement in America. They’ve slipped […]

3 hours ago

FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2021, file photo, workers stand near train tracks next to overturned cars ...

Associated Press

Railroads and their regulators thwart safety fixes, costing lives

Human errors and track defects caused more than 3,000 rail accidents over the last decade, killing 23 people and injuring nearly 1,200. Yet federal railroad regulators failed to implement most of the safety recommendations that emerged from accident investigations. That’s according to an original analysis by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

US futures slip while Asian shares gain as Fed chair Powell faces legal threat

BANGKOK (AP) — U.S. futures slipped but markets in Asia advanced Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Department of Justice had served the central bank with subpoenas. The threat of a criminal indictment over Powell’s testimony about the Fed’s building renovations is the latest escalation in President Donald Trump’s feud with the […]

4 hours ago

Associated Press

Protesters try to attack driver after truck speeds through anti-Iran demonstration in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with marchers demonstrating in support of the Iranian people, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. The U-Haul truck, with its […]

6 hours ago

Dori: King County Library System uses tax dollars for Drag Queen Story Time