Drag queen and RuPaul’s Drag Race star, Robin Fierce, made history as the first drag queen to hold a Drag Queen Story Hour at the prestigious Yale Law School in Connecticut. During the event, Fierce read three children’s books, including Anti-Racist Baby by Ibram X Kendi, And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, and an excerpt from George M Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue. These books were previously banned from some US libraries due to their LGBTQ+ themes.
Fierce spoke to the audience about how drag is an art form that allows individuals to express themselves and release their feminine side, which is often suppressed by society. She emphasized the importance of empathy and bridging the gap between queer and non-queer communities, rather than promoting “transitioning” propaganda or ideologies of sexual orientation on children, as anti-trans and anti-drag extremists suggest.
AJ Hudson, the host of the event and co-chairman of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Graduate School Senate, praised Robin Fierce’s speech at the 320-year-old university. Many of the queer students at the law school do not feel safe or comfortable there, and paying a drag queen to speak, a directly system-impacted person whose expertise is just as valuable as a heterosexual cisgender white man, lawyer, or judge, is historic. Hudson hopes that the event broke some of the boundaries, both real and imagined, that the audience members and classmates held.
Robin Fierce also held a discussion about the current political animosity against drag culture during her visit to Yale Law School. Her visit comes as Tennessee becomes the first US state to ban public drag performances, with lawmakers pushing through the law that LGBTQ+ activists claim could lead to events such as Pride being banned or cancelled. Alongside the drag ban, Tennessee lawmakers also voted to send a bill to the governor that prohibits doctors from providing gender-affirming medical treatment, such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery, to trans young people.
In conclusion, Robin Fierce’s historic visit to Yale Law School and her Drag Queen Story Hour event highlights the importance of acceptance and understanding for the LGBTQ+ community. It also sheds light on the ongoing discrimination and attacks against the community, as demonstrated by the recent laws passed in Tennessee.