A drag queen will read fairy tales to children

Photo courtesy Johan Jansson
Barbada of Barbados is a facilitator and performer in events. Sébastien Potvin, his civil name, is a teacher of elementary music.

Dominique Scali

Friday, 20 October 2017 21:12

UPDATE
Friday, 20 October 2017 21:12

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A drag queen would put Saturday its extravagant costumes, not to entertain adults in a bar, but to tell stories to children aged 3 to 5 years. A good way to prepare them to accept the difference, according to experts.

“Already at that age, there are children who reject any kind. Who refuse the idea of playing with trucks because you’re a boy or play with dolls because you’re a girl, ” says Anaïs Roy, of the body Using the trans Quebec.

The drag queen Barbada of Barbados will host a story hour in the Great Library, an activity that is intended for children from 3 to 5 years.

Mickey Mouse

The activity aims to be more fun than serious, but some of the tales may indeed address issues of gender by the band, says Sébastien Potvin, the alter ego of civil Barbada.

“An example that I often take is that of Mickey Mouse. Is it a boy or a girl ? We do not know. But what is important is that it is fun and colorful ” shows Mr. Potvin.

“It is a way to introduce young people to the difference, discuss it in a playful context and with a excellent storyteller,” says Geneviève Rossier Library and national Archives of Quebec.

The concept of being read stories by drag queen is not new and is gaining popularity in the United States. Barbada has already been done during the gay Pride in 2016. Sessions similar took place in other libraries in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada in recent years.

Age of disguise

A craze which is not surprising Denise Medico, professor in the Department of sexology at UQAM. “This is the age where children love to dress up “, she explains.

This kind of activity may, according to it, fostering openness to differences in others and themselves. “And to show that the difference is not obliged to be dramatic. That this may be a game, ” adds Ms. Medico.