Drag Queen Story Time in the Time of Corona

Missing the late night famous drag shows of New York, ordering vodka crans or whiskey sours? Need some of that wild energy? No need to miss out, because drag queens are moving online.

Okay, the move to digital is not exactly lip syncing and wigs, but it’s a bit of a calmer energy necessary for quarantine.

Drag queen Nina West has moved her storytime event to Instagram, where she entertains children reading children’s stories. In her last event she read RED: A Crayon Story by Michael Hall.

For those who missed Nina West’s storytime event, they will be happy to find out that Nina West will be hosting more events like this on her page. As she says, “This will be happening again (and again and again!).”

And while she has gotten some flak from conservative parents and right-wing conservative radio host, Bryan Fischer, she has gotten much praise from parents who are quarantined in their houses with little ones. For many parents it is a stressful time, with school closed and the grown ups trying to work from home.

One parent wrote “Both my boys loved this, such an important message, I love that you read it too, thank you for always making us smile. Lots of love to you, hope everyone is safe and well out there.”

Another commented, “I think I needed this more than the kids!”

Indeed, many people are looking for all sorts of entertainment. And to be honest, at a time with so much negative news circulating, why add bigotry to the list of things? If the kids are entertained, parents can breathe, and it brings a smile to everyone’s face, what’s really the big deal?