Thanks to the efforts of Paige Harp, a staff member of the MSU Libraries, Springfield, Missouri is now home to an official chapter of Drag Queen Story Hour.

 

This organization “captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models. In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress up is real.” 

 

Harp organized the Springfield chapter along with colleague Allison Saiko, an MSU student and story time expert. The chapter is independently operated and funded. The story hours include songs and movement that celebrate kids being their amazing selves. The next Drag Queen Story Hour will be Saturday, January 4, 2020, at 11 a.m. at the GLO Center. Story Hours are geared towards preschool age children, but all are welcome. 

 

The Drag Queen Story Hour has dozens of chapters across the U.S. and abroad, including one in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that began in 2018.