New Jersey Teachers Union Promotes Drag Queen Story Hour At Annual Convention

A New Jersey teachers union hosted a drag queen story hour as a part of its annual convention, according to the convention program.

The New Jersey chapter of the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers union in the country, hosted a “LGBTQIA+ banned books drag queen story hour” on Nov. 11 at its 2022 convention, according to the program. The 2022 New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) convention promoted the drag queen story hour as a way for educators to “explore and express their intersectional identities.”

Performers for Drag Queen Entertainment read attendees several books including “And Tango Makes Three,” a story of two male penguins who have a baby penguin together, and “Prince & Knight,” a picture book about a prince and knight who fall in love, a social media post showed. The drag queens also read “I am Jazz,” a story about a two-year-old who realizes she is a transgender female.

“With so many subjects to teach, we can’t thank all the educators and education support professionals for including diversity and acceptance in their curriculum,” the social media post by Drag Queen Entertainment stated.

Educators were also encouraged to attend different professional development sessions including “creating a safe and brave anti-racist classroom” and “LGBTQ inclusive lessons: planning for change,” according to the convention program. The convention also featured several keynote speakers including Nikole Hannah-Jones, the founder of the New York Times’ 1619 Project, and David Hogg, the founder of the gun control group March For Our Lives. (RELATED: Largest Teachers Union Plans To Compile List Of Opposition Groups To Target)

 

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“The NEA is an explicitly political organization—they only support one party and they only support one point of view when it comes to complicated hot button issues facing schools and the nation,” Erika Sanzi, Parents Defending Education director of outreach, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “NJEA has long been an echo chamber and that has only become more true in recent years. Anyone against drag queen story hour or David Hogg’s position on guns or Nikole Hannah-Jones’ opinion of the founding of America is not only unwelcome but treated with outright hostility.”

In August, the NJEA published a commercial labeling parents who speak out against Critical Race Theory and gender ideology at school board meetings, “extremists.” The commercial explained that politics should be left out of the classroom and that every student deserves “a world class education.”

The Drag Queen Entertainment, NEA and NJEA did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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