Em Rusciano has announced plans to take her three-year-old son Elio to a ‘drag queen story time event’.
In an impassioned video on Instagram, the podcaster said that it was her way of showing support for the queer community following the Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooting, which killed five people and left more than two dozen injured.
The 43-year-old also expressed concerns that a similar incident could take place in Australia due to the recent ‘grooming’ controversy around drag queen Courtney Act.
Em Rusciano has announced plans to take her three-year-old son Elio to a ‘drag queen story time event’ in a bid to show support for the queer community
‘When you think about the rhetoric that’s been rolling around about Courtney Act apparently “grooming” kids because she read a story on Play School, it could happen here,’ she warned her 227,000 followers.
‘And I just want to categorically state that I would be honoured if a drag queen wanted to read a book to my child, to me, to anyone.’
Em went on to say that she’s an ally to the queer community and wants to show her support by taking her son Elio to a drag queen story time.
‘I’ve been trying to research drag story time events to take Elio to because I just want to show my support and I think it’s a fabulous idea and I can’t find any,’ she despaired.
Em is a proud parent to three-year-old son Elio and is hoping to take him to a drag queen story time in the near future. Em and Elio pictured together
‘Are they not on anymore? Are they not happening? Are any of you across when there might be another drag story time?’ she asked.
‘Drag queens are precious magical humans,’ she gushed. ‘They are perfect. It’s the perfect choice to read children’s books.’
After struggling to find any drag queen story events near her, Em pondered if she should try and organise one herself and then asked her followers if they had a library she could use.
‘I really, really want to take Elio to a drag story time now! I’m obsessed!’ she pleaded.
In May, Em revealed that Elio had been diagnosed with autism.
‘Drag queens are precious magical humans,’ she gushed. ‘They are perfect. It’s the perfect choice to read children’s books’
In addition to Elio having autism, Em herself has said that she identifies as having autism too, and that she’s also been diagnosed with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder).
And last year Em revealed that her 14-year-old daughter Odette had been diagnosed with ADHD too.
Over the weekend, Courtney Act hit back at a Liberal senator who attacked her for reading children’s books on Play School Story Time.
After struggling to find any drag queen story events near her, Em (left) pondered if she should try and organise one herself and then asked her followers if they had a library she could use
Liberal senator Alex Antic accused the ABC of ‘grooming’ children by having Act read a children’s book about a girl wearing pants.
His comments prompted a furious argument with Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who called his question offensive, during a Senate estimates hearing earlier this month.
Act has since written a column defending her appearance, writing: ‘Showing queer kids straight content won’t turn them straight. And showing straight kids queer content won’t turn them queer.
In May, Em revealed that Elio had been diagnosed with autism. Em herself has also been diagnosed with ADHD and claims she is autistic too
‘Antic’s concern was that the book I read, The Spectacular Suit, was ‘about a female child wanting to wear male clothing’. It was about a girl who wanted to wear pants, not a dress, to her birthday party.
‘It’s 2022. Surely this point seems absurd to everyone but Antic. I was read the usual books growing up. I was weaned on TV that only contained heterosexual characters, albeit smurfs, crime-fighting turtles and a talking bath mat.
‘I loved playing dress-ups, like all kids do, and was raised by loving heterosexual people who occupied traditional gender roles.
‘Yet somehow, despite it all, I turned out to be a flaming, proud, successful and balanced queer person. Really, anyone born before the year 2000 grew up in the same world and plenty of us turned out lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans.’
Over the weekend, Courtney Act (pictured) hit back at a Liberal senator who attacked her for reading children’s books on Play School Story Time
In a strongly-worded piece, she also accused Antic of using US right-wing tactics by describing her appearance as ‘grooming’.
‘Antic referring to my Story Time as grooming is a political tactic to weaponise the protection of children to win political points.
‘It’s ripped straight from the right-wing American culture war playbook. I normally wouldn’t respond and give this fringe opinion more oxygen, but I’ve seen this tactic deployed increasingly in Australia and it needed to be debunked.’
Meanwhile, on Saturday, five people were killed including two barmen and 25 were injured in a deadly shooting at a Colorado Springs gay club before police arrested suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich.
‘Showing queer kids straight content won’t turn them straight. And showing straight kids queer content won’t turn them queer,’ Act wrote over the weekend
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk