Opinion
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May 27, 2019 (Mission America) — It’s bad enough that some libraries encourage little children to perch on the laps of transvestite males as they hear fables about well-adjusted homosexual families during the so-called “Drag Queen Story Hours” featured in some communities.

And then those guys turn out to be convicted child molesters, as recently happened in Houston.

But other libraries have devised another method for mental molestation of youth. Middle- and high-schoolers are invited to a private “safe space” session with a garishly-dressed she-male to explore what “drag” is all about. And adults are excluded — until the public hears and cries “foul.”

It’s happening in Delaware County, Ohio, an affluent suburb north of Columbus. And taxpayers are putting up quite a fuss. A June 5 session called “Drag 101” is advertised on the teen page of the Delaware County Library website, and here’s how the announcement reads:

“Drag 101—Teen Program. Curious about the art of drag and no idea where to start? Come learn the basics with former Miss Gay Ohio America, Selena T. West! All genders welcome; drag is for everyone! Teens only, please.”

And in a taxpayer-funded library, no less.

It turns out it’s the half-a-brainchild of the children’s librarian, Becky Woodruff. And now we all feel a lot better. After the public outcry, one adult will now be allowed to accompany each student, but no other adults will be permitted in the room with the 12- to 17-year-olds they have invited to attend. What are they hiding?

At least now the library is doing background checks on the presenters, the director recently revealed. And why weren’t they doing that before public objections?

The library director, George Needham, said this on social media: “ … it’s very common in our regular teen programming to use the phrase, ‘Teens only, please.’ This is because, within teen development, it’s very important that they feel like they have ownership over a safe space.”

Who made him a psychologist and does anyone want that in a librarian? NO. And he’s wrong. Parental oversight, not privacy with disordered adults, is critical during childhood and adolescence to keep kids actually safe from major life-damaging episodes as well as to protect them from predators.

Do we have to worry about predators in the library? Seems that some healthy suspicion is in order. (#LibrariesToo )

Needham went on to explain that the “teens-only phrase” is “used to deter young children or tweens from attending programs intended for a teen audience.” Why is that important? Why can’t 15-year-old Josh attend with his nine-year-old sister?

Unless there are sleazy elements you librarians think teens will keep from their parents but little kids are more likely to blab.

And Needham continued, “Typically, parents are also encouraged to give a teen program its own space and wait in a nearby area of the library.” Parents, go away.

But I say, taxpayers, rise up.

Indeed, these folks crave private sessions with adolescents and we’ve seen this before with sex educators and others pushing slimy agendas.

“Drag 101” is part of “summer reading.” And you thought libraries were safe spaces.

The library board’s meeting on May 21 heard from members of the public speaking both against as well as for this event. Their decision? They are not canceling.

But hold on. The situation gets even shadier when one finds out that the organizer, a man who calls himself “Selena T. West,” has sexually suggestive images all over the internet. Who is “Selena, “anyway?

If one of these teens arrives at the library, courtesy of your tax dollars, and likes the “drag” lessons, surely there will be follow-up contact, right? Are these unsupervised adults allowed to collect cell phone numbers from their private teen audience? And then what? “Come down and meet me at the pride parade!”

If a teen checks him out on the web, “Selena” sets an example that is questionable at best. Is this a public relations/publicity campaign taxpayers should be funding?

Until the recent uproar, this event had no parental notice or permission. Is the library willing to be held legally accountable for any complications as they bypass parents and endanger children? A “drag” interest and gender confusion could create serious emotional disturbances in some adolescent boys.

The outrageous promotion of depravity by this library doesn’t end with private corruption sessions. The teen page is dominated by pro-homosexual and pro-gender confusion propaganda, with an entire “LGBTQIA” section that links to many groups specializing in child endangerment: GLSEN, the Human Rights Campaign, the local “gay” youth center (open to children as young as 12 without parent knowledge), the Nationwide Children’s Hospital THRIVE program, which has only one answer to gender confusion in kids — start the dangerous drugs of “transition” ASAP; pro-homosexual legal groups like ACLU and Lambda Legal, and information trashing “conversion therapy.”

Are there no conservatives or people of faith in Delaware County? This page has not a single resource with an opposite ( aka, safe) viewpoint. They are uniformly urging minor children to go full steam ahead into the high-risk behaviors of homosexuality or gender “transition.”

When Adam comes home from Drag 101 eager to start wearing dresses and heels, where do his outraged parents go? If he implicates the library, are the country commissioners and library board willing to absorb the legal costs of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit when Adam is permanently sterilized ( after he starts opposite sex hormones)?

Probably not. Maybe someone should advise the library staff and board: “Grow up, get responsible and get a real heart for children.”

Linda Harvey is president of Mission America.