Four Colorado elementary schools’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion groups joined forces to promote a drag queen story hour event earlier this month.
Erie, Colorado’s Meadowlark Elementary School’s Parent, Teacher and Student Association committee announced that its DEI committee would team up with the DEI groups at three other elementary schools in Erie to participate in the town’s first Pride celebration.
“Happy Pride Month! Please join and celebrate with us!!” Meadowlark Elementary’s DEI committee wrote in a June 1 Facebook post, adding that “all are welcomed to join in the celebration.”
The post said the elementary school DEI groups would “sponsor and hand out rainbow flags at the main entrance points.”
Drag queen Shirley Delta Blow was scheduled to read to children at 4 p.m. as part of the Pride event, which was set for last Sunday afternoon.
Shirley Delta Blow is actually Stuart Sanks, a third grade teacher at The Studio School just north of Denver, he told Westword.
“We tend to giggle a lot in my room, and there is always glitter, much to the chagrin of some parents. But, hey, a drag queen is your child’s teacher. This is what you signed up for,” Sanks told the outlet.
Erie Pride Celebration
Meadowlark Elementary is in Colorado’s Boulder Valley School District. It is unclear whether the other three elementary schools are in that district, although all are located in Erie.
A Meadowlark Elementary School spokesperson told Fox News that the DEI groups partnering with the town’s Pride event was a parent/student activity independent of Meadowlark Elementary School, the outlet said.
The post was flagged by Parents Defending Education, a grassroots organization that says it works to fight indoctrination in the classroom.
Also slated to be at the event was the Parasol Patrol, an LGBT group which says it works to protect children from the “onslaught of hateful speech from protesters” at events.
“We provide hearing protection to muffle the vitriolic taunts and use our umbrellas to shield them from the vulgar signs and angry faces,” the Parasol Patrol says in its mission statement.
“It’s so important to show queer kids today that they grow up and be successful while embracing their identity and who they truly are,” said Christiaan van Woudenberg, one of the organizers for the event.
Back in 2016, the Human Right Campaign praised the Boulder Valley School District for its leadership on transgender issues.
“When we see an elementary school’s PTSA encouraging kids to participate in a ‘Pride Celebration’ with a drag queen–who happens to be an elementary school teacher at a neighboring school – isn’t it clear that the Human Rights Campaign’s trans rights activist agenda has become toxic?” said Parents Defending Education Private School Advocacy Associate Mary Miller said. “Back in 2016, HRC gave the Boulder Valley School District its ‘Welcoming Schools Seal of Excellence’ and said the district was ‘out ahead of the curve’ in implementing HRC’s curriculum. Fast forward to 2022, the district’s parents and teachers are now directing kids to hand out rainbow flags at events headlined by drag queens.”
Drag queen events marketed as intended for young children have come under attack recently from parents, who argue that such events are inappropriate for younger age groups.