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Indy100 Staff
Jun 07, 2023
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Scottish Conservatives leader and Tory MP Douglas Ross has faced accusations of “homophobia” over a tweet in which he claimed it’s “totally inappropriate” for children under six to attend a ‘Drag Queen Story Time’ event in his Moray constituency.
That’s despite, you know, pantomime dames existing and performing in front of children without much issue for many years now.
Nevertheless, Mr Ross showed how supportive he was of the culture sector in Moray by attacking a tweet from Moray Council on Tuesday, in which the local authority shared details of the story time with drag act Miss Lossie Mouth taking place at Elgin Library on Saturday.
The MP and MSP fumed: “It’s totally inappropriate to hold a show like this for kids under the age of six. Story time for babies and young kids shouldn’t focus on gender or sexual identity.
“That is common sense and on behalf of constituents who have contacted me, I’ve raised this with the council.”
The children’s books which are set to be read to attendees include And Tango Makes Three (which is about two gay, male penguins), Zee Zee the Zebra (a zebra with multicoloured stripes whose friends “don’t let her join in with their games”), and Unicorn Not Wanted (about a “unicorn that hijacks the story”).
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Oh, and the three stories don’t appear to mention sex (shockingly, a key aspect of sexuality) – because, well, they’re books for children.
Miss Lossie Mouth said: “As a teacher myself, I appreciate the way to instil a love of reading from an early age is to make it fun. That’s exactly what drag queen storytelling does with an engaging hour of colourful, joyous stories.”
Sean McNamara, of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals which represents library workers, added: “Libraries exist to support every member of their community and to encourage people to learn about the world around them in a respectful way.
“Drag queen storytelling has proved to be an extremely popular way of doing just that and has a demonstrably positive effect on children’s reading and engagement and is a valuable way of teaching literacy skills.”
You would think Mr Ross would welcome an opportunity to increase literacy in his constituency, especially given how he criticised former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for the wide attainment gap for reading, writing, literacy and numeracy back in December, but apparently not.
Thankfully, Twitter was on hand to ridicule and criticise the Conservative politician:
\u201cWhat's the difference in age-appropriate content between this, which involves reading Zee Zee the Zebra and singing some Disney songs\u2019, and a Panto dame? \n\nGet a grip!\u201d— Ash Sarkar (@Ash Sarkar) 1686048709
\u201c@Douglas4Moray Remember pantos. Ugly sisters, widow thanked etc. The flyer does say suitable for 0-6. Kids love bright colours and funny voices.\u201d— Douglas Ross MP MSP (@Douglas Ross MP MSP) 1686041799
\u201c@Douglas4Moray And todays bigoted comment of the day, goes to @Douglas4Moray\n\nDouglas con-drag-ulations you little sprout, you\u2019re prize of some Curly Wurlys are on their way.\u201d— Douglas Ross MP MSP (@Douglas Ross MP MSP) 1686041799
\u201c@Douglas4Moray Why do you not want gay people around kids Douglas? Go on say the quiet bit out loud.\u201d— Douglas Ross MP MSP (@Douglas Ross MP MSP) 1686041799
\u201c@Douglas4Moray Kids books are packed full of stories about families, relationships and identities. What you are saying is that you only want a heterosexual, gender conventional world to be represented\u201d— Douglas Ross MP MSP (@Douglas Ross MP MSP) 1686041799
\u201c@Douglas4Moray One assumes you have never attended a pantomime?\u201d— Douglas Ross MP MSP (@Douglas Ross MP MSP) 1686041799
\u201c@Douglas4Moray So you\u2019re gonna ban pantos then too? Clown.\u201d— Douglas Ross MP MSP (@Douglas Ross MP MSP) 1686041799
\u201cNext on Douglas Ross\u2019 agenda: BAN THE ELGIN PANTOMIME!\u201d— Iona Fyfe (@Iona Fyfe) 1686043532
\u201cLGBT people - including LGBT families with children under the age of six - exist.\n\nThere\u2019s nothing \u201cinappropriate\u201d about children knowing that, and nothing \u201ccommon sense\u201d about thinly-veiled homophobia.\u201d— Eilidh Douglas (@Eilidh Douglas) 1686052193
Even Conservative candidates for the next election have taken issue with Mr Ross’s comments:
\u201c@Douglas4Moray This is nothing to do with that. I urge you to consider your words before you make statements like this which are not true, we are not labour or the SNP. \n\nI guarantee your constituents are more worried about putting food on the table and having the infrastructure they need, not\u2026\u201d— Douglas Ross MP MSP (@Douglas Ross MP MSP) 1686041799
The remarks from the Tory MP are the latest development to wade into the culture war surrounding drag, which has seen controversial right-wing group Turning Point UK consistently protest drag queen story time events at Lewisham’s Honour Oak pub, and Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene publish tweets branding drag queens as “child predators”.
In a statement to Indy100 following the backlash, Mr Ross said: “This show is totally inappropriate to be held for children under six. While these shows are suitable for adults, they are not for very young children.
“Story time for babies and young kids – such as my own two sons – shouldn’t focus on gender or sexual identity. I have raised concerns on behalf of constituents who have contacted me about this with the council and I look forward to their response.”
“Constituents in Moray have raised concerns about this event with me as their local MP, but clearly the Greens have no interest in having a grown-up discussion on this.”
He continued: “Green MSPs constantly talk about using more respectful language in politics but then have resorted to saying raising concerns and constituent views is bigoted.
“I make no apologies for standing up for issues of importance to the people I represent in Moray, many of whom share my concern that this show is inappropriate for babies and young children.
“It is disappointing that the Greens have typically dismissed legitimate concerns out of hand.”
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