.png)
So, Gwynedd has, to my knowledge, had its first experience of Drag Queen’s Story Hour recently, firstly in Pwllheli and then in Bangor. Some of us gathered outside the venues with protest signs, and then proceeded quietly to get a ringside seat for Mama G. We watched the performance respectfully and a couple of us took pictures of the performer. The Drag Queen in question was very modest in his attire. He looked for all the world like the Panto Dame he claims to be—just like he appeared on Britain’s Got Talent. To be fair, he can sing fairly well, engage children fairly well and showed no sign of sexuality in his physical behaviour. However, he did have a story about a confused dinosaur who was unpopular and then discovered his roar through being able to make fantastic hats, mostly for ladies but not exclusively, since quite a few men loved them too. This dinosaur did have they-them pronouns which threw me for a while as I saw herds of the things coming at me, which was scary until I caught the (gender) drift. I wonder if the same was true for the children present who were at the age of only beginning to refine their newly-learnt language skills. Could the use of plural pronouns for one dinosaur possibly confuse young, impressionable minds? Is this one of the reasons Mama G has chosen a “confusing” persona for his stage act in the first place? More on that choice later. Also—some of the dinosaurs were flirting with each other at some point in the story. And this was qualified by a comment along the lines of “well, we all like to flirt sometimes”. Since the concept of flirting is not a familiar one to young children, that comment was an obvious aside to the parents. A wink and a nudge to say” Yes, we are getting a bit adult here at this point, but that’s OK Mums and Dads, isn’t it? It’s just a bit of good, clean fun”. The cynical amongst us would call that an act of coercion. Some of us had done a little research on Mama G before we had turned up. The more enterprising amongst us had found him in a tight dress, twerking for a living. In the following video made 3 years ago, Mama G refers to his story “You’d Better Twerk!” It concerns a boy who, because of his outstanding twerking abilities, was able to save a village from disaster. Notice how he mentions that twerking is frowned on by some, because it is “a bit rude” , and yet in his story, he promotes it as a potential life-saver.
Mama G demonstrates here just how disingenuous he is, and the way that he has used a stereotypical Panto Dame , which he describes as” one of the most popular characters in the country” and also one of the most “confusing” , to promote his own special form of propaganda in the form of gender -fluidity ideology and the sexualisation of children. Why on earth would he want to choose a character who, by his own admission is confusing, because he is in fact a man dressed up as a woman, in order to narrate stories to young children ?His agenda could not be plainer if he had tattooed it on his face.
Others had found his Facebook page where he recommends a list of banned books, one of them being a pornographic one aimed at young, black gays. A book which just happens to be available in some North Wales libraries.
An excerpt of an outraged American mother reading from it to a panel of elementary school governors can be found here. Her outrage stems from the fact that this book “All Boys Aren’t Blue” is on the shelves of the library at her child’s elementary school.
So, the same library chain that hosted the Mama G events also possesses copies of a teen- porn, banned book that he promoted on social media. . And yet, as parents were leaving the library that day, some of them hurled abuse at us, calling us the P word for being present at a children’s event .They accused us of being freaks for wanting to be at an activity which was solely for children. Regardless of the fact that we too were helping to fund it and had a right to view it. It would almost be funny if it weren’t for the children.
And Mama G, after 40 minutes of performance—not even an hour, proceeds to sell books. The most rebellious thing I did that day was to say “All Boys Aren’t Blue” in a loud voice. He didn’t bat an eyelid. And of course, that is one of the titles he recommended on his FB page. The one already mentioned that has graphic sex scenes in it and no literary worth. And let’s not forget that Mama G was funded through our council, the council which loves to portray any one remotely averse to the RSE curriculum as people who push propaganda and misinformation. And Mama G also had a police escort, which in turn came from taxpayers’ pockets in the same way that the council budget does.
How about Grandma J or Grandpa G coming into libraries and telling their stories? How about children having a link with their grandparents’ generation instead of a pseudo auntie? An auntie who is a man dressed up to be a woman and who has false breasts, a penis and an un-knowable agenda? An auntie whom your own family might have turned their back on because of his lifestyle. The time for naïve acceptance and fawning over such entities should be over, both in Wales and the UK in general. Let us never forget that the UK spawned a paedophile /necrophile that was adored and pushed by media, royalty and politicians alike. Jimmy Savile promoted disabled adults and sick children whilst also idolising his dead mother, and all the time he was sexually abusing each and every category they represented. We should never forget those facts and we should be forever vigilant on behalf of our children.
Whilst Mama G is obviously not offensive in the same way, nevertheless, he has proved to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Yes, he has cleaned his act up—but hundreds of parents are still unaware of the real Mama G that he has partially revealed through social media. And we only have his word for it that he is “good” and “loveable”. I wonder how delighted the progressive parents and librarians who danced, laughed and cradled their children at Gwynedd libraries might have been if he had launched into his “You’d Better Twerk” routine for them and their little ones, as he already has for others.? Would they still be attacking us hysterically and calling us the P word? Maybe so, since this creature is endorsed by both libraries and elected councilors, and they would never mislead children. Would they?
Written by J. Ginsberg.