Library officials have been asked on a number of occasions if the chosen Drag Queen for tomorrow’s Drag Queen Story Hour would be properly vetted with background checks to ensure that this person is not a convicted child molester, or a registered sex-offender, to which the Library officials stated that they never do background checks on volunteers for events such as this because they will have staff in the room with the volunteer.
Of course, there is no indication as to what level of involvement the Drag Queen will have with the children. In other venues, the Drag Queens predictably behave in various ways. Some of them dress in clothing comparable to a long dress or robe, while other Drag Queens have dressed provocatively with see through skirts, fishnet pantyhose, and sat with legs spread while the children sat in front of them on the floor. Still, other events have been photographed with the children sitting on the Drag Queens’ laps during story and “activity” hour. Nevertheless, the Library sees no need for background checks to be done on the Drag Queens.
Generic (Not Actual) Drag Queen Image in front of EVPL North Park
But others in the community have done their homework, and it appears that the EVPL’s chosen Drag Queen actually does have a bit of history. As a few members of the community have come forward to reveal certain details, it appears that the chosen Drag Queen has a past which appears to involve children, and allegedly has Department of Child Services (DCS) records which may document this.
According to testimonies, the chosen Drag Queen (whose name we will keep anonymous for his and his family’s protection) went to a school here locally and due to having several siblings it wasn’t uncommon for peers at the school to hear details about their particularly odd home life.
The EVPL’s chosen Drag Queen, while living with his adoptive parents, was allegedly removed from the home and moved out to the garage apartment after incidents which involved DCS. Specifically stated among the details was that, “He wasn’t allowed to sleep in the same part of the house as the kids…”
Were the allegations against the EVPL’s chosen Drag Queen sexual in nature? Did those allegations involve other children in the home? Why was he moved out to the garage and wasn’t allowed to sleep in the same part of the house as the rest of the children, unless something inappropriate had been taking place while the children were in bed, and/or while the children were sleeping.
According to testimonies, several students who attended school with him knew about the situation, that he had been moved to the garage, and because of his situation being well-known amongst his peers, it took him a long time for to become fully involved with friend groups at his school.
At some point, the parents of the EVPL’s chosen Drag Queen moved out of town, allegedly leaving him behind, as they took the rest of the children with them.
Consider, of course, that DCS does not get involved unless there is a report of some type that indicates that a child’s rights, and more specifically, his or her body, has been violated in some way.
Granted, there are many times when a disgruntled parent will accuse a former spouse of child abuse, to which DCS would answer the call to go to the home and file a report, and release said parent from any unsubstantiated claims against them. However, according to testimony, one of the siblings of the EVPL’s chosen Drag Queen expressed to their peers that they were frustrated with the DCS worker who had been frequenting their home, stating, “I wish they would just do their job.”
What did the sibling wish would happen? Was the sibling a victim of the EVPL’s chosen Drag Queen? Was the sibling hoping that the DCS employee would “just do their job” by removing him from their home so that they, and the other children would be safe?
And this also begs the question, if the peers knew about the history of the Drag Queen, and the siblings knew about the activities of the Drag Queen, why didn’t the EVPL know about the allegations of the DCS history of their chosen Drag Queen?
Simple. The EVPL refuses to do background checks on the adult entertainers they bring in to interact with and influence the children. Not only did they refuse to do background checks, they appear to have deliberately delayed and hidden the identity of the Drag Queen until it was almost too late for anyone to properly vet them. This level of malfeasance by the Library Director and the Library Board is unacceptable for a once-safe public entity.
Would you want your child attending an event with a Drag Queen who may have allegations of DCS history with children?
Recently, a University of Southern Indiana (USI) student was banned from campus after alleged sexual assaults on college-aged kids, yet the EVPL has refused to do much needed background checks on entertainers for kids who are much younger.
How could any of us trust a Library who would spend two-and-a-half years planning this event, but wouldn’t find it important enough to go through a proper vetting process and do a background check on someone who would be interacting with children?
For two-and-a-half years, the EVPL has had opportunity to cross all of their “t’s” and dot all of their “i’s” and yet, after denying and/or delaying the public’s requests for information regarding the identity of the chosen Drag Queen until around 30 days before the event, they finally released the name of the Drag Queen.
Was the EVPL hoping this information wouldn’t be discovered? Were they unprepared? Were they trying to hide it? Are they so inclined to push their agenda (because, let’s face it, this program isn’t really about promoting reading) that they would be this irresponsible to put the children at risk of a possible child predator? Should this person be investigated further before they are allowed, sponsored, promoted, and hosted by the public library to influence the children of our community? At the very least, shouldn’t the library board hold an emergency meeting to postpone DQSH until these allegations can be investigated for validity?
The Library Board and Cyndee Landrum, EVPL Director, seems to have a lot of questions to answer to this community for their recent and irresponsible courses of action regarding this event and other directions of the Library which seem to be less-than-compatible with the public’s expectations for them.
If you would like to voice your concerns, call North Park Library at (812) 428-8237 today. You may also email the Library Board at libraryboard@evpl.org or the Library Director, Cyndee Landrum, at ceo@evpl.org.
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UPDATE: The Drag Queen has denied all of the above allegations and states that they never happened. Drag Queen Story Hour proceeded as planned without any known incidents.
This is so wrong. We are appalled that this is allowed in our Public Library. We must stop it. We will get attorneys involved.
It’s child abuse, and any parent that would expose their child to this hedonistic debauchery is complicit in child abuse.