Drag Story Hour NYC, formerly known as Drag Queen Story Hour NYC, is an LGBT group that works in libraries, schools, and museums in all five boroughs of New York City. ¹ The organization was co-founded by Rachel Aimee, who served as its executive director from 2016 through 2022. ² The group says it provides “fabulous educational experiences for children and teens” from ages three to 18 years old. Drag performers in the organization use storytelling to teach children about what the group calls “gender diversity.” ³

Background

Drag Story Hour NYC, formerly known as the Drag Queen Story Hour NYC, promotes drag queens by conducting storytelling and creative arts programs for children and teens in libraries, schools, and museums in all five boroughs of New York City. ⁴ The group was co-founded by Rachel Aimee, who would serve as executive director of the group from 2016 to 2022. As of 2023, Aimee is now the Development Director for Street Vendor Project, an advocacy project in New York City part of the legal foundation Urban Justice Center. ⁵

The organization says it provides “fabulous educational experiences” through programs that “celebrate gender diversity.” The group claims its original 45-minute program is designed for children ages three through eight. It later expanded programs for older students. ⁶

One of the earliest books the group promoted in New York schools when it began in 2018 was Born Bad by C.K. Smouha, which is a story about a wolf that was unhappy being a wolf and decides to transition to a happier life. ⁷

The drag organization argues that “learning about drag as a form of dress-up and play, children learn to see beyond the pink and blue gender binary.” The organization says that local drag performers are trained by children’s librarians to read picture books that touch on themes of diversity and difference. The group says the performers sing songs. ⁸

Drag Story Hour NYC also does programs in Spanish, Cantonese, and French. ⁹

In 2021, Drag Story Hour says it produced 67 in-person programs for 863 children and 141 virtual programs for thousands of children. ¹⁰

​Drag Story Hour NYC helped establish a Genders and Sexualities Alliance (GSA) club at a Manhattan high school in December 2018. ¹¹

National Affiliation

Drag Story Hour NYC is a member of the Drag Queen Story Hour Global Network. ¹²

The national Drag Queen Story Hour organization says that it “captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models.” It was established in 2015 in San Francisco, California, and has since expanded internationally. ¹³

Public Funding

Drag Story Hour NYC works with three public library systems in New York City as well as the New York City Department of Education. ¹⁴

From 2018 through the first half of 2022, New York City and New York State spent $207,000 in taxpayer funds on Drag Story Hour NYC. ¹⁵

In May 2022, the organization received $46,000 in city contracts at public schools, street festivals, and libraries. The full amount includes $50,000 from New York state through its Council on the Arts, as well as $157,000 from the city’s Departments of Education, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Community Development, and the Department of Transportation. ¹⁶

Cross-dressed performers generally read out loud to children from a list of books that includes Where the Wild Things Are, The Rainbow Fish, and The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish. ¹⁷

One of the performers, who goes by the name Harmonica Sunbeam, wore a slinky gown to meet with kindergarteners at STAR Academy in Manhattan to color pages from The Dragtivity Book, which instructs children to choose their own pronouns and to invent drag names, the New York Post reported. Another performer, who goes by the name Bella Noche, wore a scanty mermaid outfit to read to second graders from Manhattan’s PS 34 during a May field trip. One performer who goes by the name Flame went to MS 88 in Park Slope to teach middle schoolers “of all genders” how to apply drag eye makeup. Another drag performer that goes by the name Professor Lionel Longlegs wore a t-shirt that says “I Don’t Want to Look or Be Cis” in front of primary-grade kids in the library of PS 191 on the Upper West Side. ¹⁸

Some New York City parents complained they were not made aware their children would see drag programs in their schools. Other parents asserted they were aware but were not offered an opt-out. ¹⁹

The organization said in 2021, the New York City Department of Education gave it a $3,900 subsidy but did not make the same award in 2022 to give a discount to individual schools. The organization says it is trying to raise $6,000 private to fund to continue giving a discount to schools. ²⁰

The New York City Department of Education has defended Drag Story Hour NYC program as “life-saving.” ²¹

According to its 2022 990 form, Drag Story Hour NYC reported a revenue of $218,069, expenses of $184,737, and total assets of $82,438. ²²

Leadership

Yun-Hee Proffit is the executive director for Drag Story Hour NYC. Proffit previously worked as co-executive director for the Nodutdol for Korean Community Development in New York City. Proffit also serves as a board member for Artbuilt, NY and Skylar Storage Project. ²³

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22. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Drag Story Hour NYC Ltd. 2022. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/822613408/202333179349311408/full
23. “Staff and Storytellers.” Drag Story Hour NYC., Accessed February 27, 2024. https://www.dshnyc.org/staff-and-storytellers