Librarians urged to call drag queens 'pantomime dames' to fool story-time protesters

Librarians urged to call drag queens 'pantomime dames' to fool story-time protesters
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Jamie  Micklethwaite

By Jamie Micklethwaite


Published: 31/07/2022

- 13:30

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 10:47

The Drag Queen Story Hour, which is being held all over the UK, has seen protesters trying to storm libraries

Librarians have been told to refer to drag queens as pantomime dames to avoid more protests.

The Drag Queen Story Hour UK tour, which is aimed at children, has seen numerous protests and cancellations in the UK.


Police have been called in to stop protesters gaining access to the sessions, and one drag queen was even given a police escort.

In an attempt to combat this, library staff attended a webinar on managing controversial events, urging them to try and fool protesters.

Drag Queen Story Hour is being held up and down the UK
Drag Queen Story Hour is being held up and down the UK
Drag Queen Story Hour UK

As reported by the Telegraph, one librarian from Cheshire told the webinar how they had avoided protests.

He said: "We’ve always said pantomime dame because we don’t want protestors outside our building.

“Is that knuckling under pressure? Probably, possibly, but we find we have no protests, it’s a good event, we run the event."

An official from Bristol also suggested hiding negative comments on social media, and avoid defending drag events on a Friday which could lead to a negative backlash over the weekend.

The tour is appearing up and down the country this summer, with around 70 events in places from Bristol to Crewe.

A blurb on the site says the events will engage your child's creativity and love for reading stories by giving them a brand-new, positive experience, one page at a time, urging people to "Get Fabulous".

A spokesman for Libraries Connected said: “The webinar included contributions from a range of library professionals with different perspectives, based on their experience of managing events at their libraries.

“They were speaking in a personal capacity and were not representing Libraries Connected.”

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