Drag Story Hour Celebrates 10 Years at San Francisco Public Library

It’s time to break out the glitter and grab your favorite picture book — Dec. 12 is now officially Drag Story Hour Day in San Francisco. Earlier this week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to recognize the literacy program, which started 10 years ago at the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL).

“Drag Story Hour creates space for queer role models in children’s stories and teaches kids that authenticity and individuality should be celebrated,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman at the Dec. 9 meeting.

Founded by author Michelle Tea and Radar Productions, with support from fellow writers Julián Delgado Lopera and Virgie Tovar, Drag Story Hour invites drag performers to read to children at libraries, bookstores and schools around the world. San Francisco’s Per Sia read at the first-ever Drag Story Hour at Harvey Milk Memorial branch of the SFPL in 2015. Since then, the program has expanded to 30 chapters around the U.S. as well as Japan, Mexico and several other countries.

On Dec. 14, SFPL will celebrate Drag Story Hour at its main branch with a family-friendly day of festivities and readings with drag queens, kings and royals, including Per Sia. An after-school arts educator by day, Per Sia was recently named San Francisco Drag Laureate.

“A lot of amazing queer things have come out of San Francisco, Drag Story Hour being one of them,” Per Sia told KQED in October.

Drag Story Hour’s success has come in spite of right wing attacks, including from Proud Boys, who stormed a 2022 Drag Story Hour at the San Lorenzo Public Library and shouted slurs at performer Panda Dulce. (Dulce has since told her story in a short film about the aftermath of the ordeal.) Amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, Montana and Tennessee passed bills to ban drag performances in front of children, but legal challenges have blocked the laws’ enforcement.

“It’s still so important to not just highlight the program because, you know, literacy, children,” Per Sia said, “but also highlight queer joy and all the things that people say are wrong with us, which are not [wrong].”

Drag Story Hour celebrates 10 years at San Francisco Public Library on Dec. 14, 12–5 p.m.