Democrat state lawmakers in Arizona are under fire for hosting the “first ever” drag story hour, presented by “gender-nonconforming” Rep. Lorena Austin and Planned Parenthood Arizona, in the basement of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Rep. Austin reportedly goes by “she/they/ella pronouns.”
OnenTen Phoenix, a group that purports to “serve LGBTQ youth and young adults ages 11-24,” also hosted an “LGBTQ+ Youth Day” for children as young as 13 years old at the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday. According to Fox, Austin helped organize this event.
According to Arizona House Democrats, who celebrated the sexualization and indoctrination of children, “Around 30 kids and teenagers” were in attendance.
ICYMI: Yesterday was LGBTQ+ Youth Day at the Capitol! Around 30 kids and teenagers came with their parents or guardian to #azleg to learn about the legislative process and how to be involved in their House. #lgbtqrights pic.twitter.com/AMS0odLbEu
— Arizona House Democrats (@AZHouseDems) May 2, 2024
A video of the drag event posted on X shows what appears to be a male drag queen telling a story about New York-based transgender activist Pauline Park while urging drag story hour-goers to “listen to your kids” and explaining his unscientific opinion that adults can change their gender on a whim multiple times in their lifetime.
Watch below:
“When is it time to choose a new name? Why does someone become an activist? How does one begin? Who? Pauline Park. What? A Korean American trans activist. Were? New York City. When? From the time she was five. Why? To ensure rights for herself and others. How? One step at a time.
That’s one of the things when the whole topic of kids being trans, come up. ‘Don’t listen.’ Listen to your kids because I can tell you, I knew from a very young age, very, very young age. And had the resources been there, had the language been there, had all the things that are available today been there, things might have been very different for me — instead of waiting 35 years. And adults change pronouns all the time. Adults, as we grow, and as we mature, and as we figure sh*t out, we may go from identifying as, you know, within the binary, and then we decide, ‘You know what? That doesn’t fit me.’ I think I’m agender. I don’t really identify as a gender. So, please use they/them pronouns.”
Arizona Senate Republicans reacted on X, saying, “WARNING: THIS CONTENT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN. Arizona Democrat lawmakers teamed up with Planned Parenthood to host ‘Drag Story Hour’ at the Capitol to encourage parents to transition their kids. This is ahead of LGBTQ+ YOUTH Day at the Capitol tomorrow. Your taxpayer dollars are hard at work to push child indoctrination and woke ideology onto our citizens. The madness must stop.”
State Senator Justine Wadsack slammed the Democrats for using tax dollars to host this desecration of the Arizona Capitol Chamber and called on House Members to file an ethics complaint and expel Loreta Austin. Senator Anthony Kern responded, “I second that motion!!”
I second that motion!!
— Anthony Kern (@anthonykernAZ) April 30, 2024
“This is a desecration of the people’s house. I am LIVID!!!” said Representative Rachel Jones:
This is a desecration of the people’s house. I am LIVID!!! https://t.co/DPaKNSXTUK
— AZ Representative Rachel Jones (@RJ4arizona) April 30, 2024
House Speaker Ben Toma also chimed in, saying Rep. Austin “deliberately misled House leadership” with her event and announced that Democrats no longer have the privilege of using House meeting rooms until further notice.
Democrat Rep. Lorena Austin deliberately misled House leadership to reserve a conference room to host a drag story hour with Planned Parenthood.
Use of House facilities for radical activism to promote dangerously perverse ideology will not be tolerated while I am Speaker.
As… pic.twitter.com/yuOnkjn8zR
— Ben Toma (@RepBenToma) April 30, 2024
In response to criticisms from GOP Lawmakers, House Democratic Whip Nancy Gutierrez cried “discrimination.”
PRESS RELEASE: ‘Not the people’s House after all’ — House Democrats respond to outrageous retaliation for hosting drag story hour #azleg pic.twitter.com/MZ6dDzbVWr
— Arizona House Democrats (@AZHouseDems) April 30, 2024
Rep. Lorena Austin, the lawmaker who organized the event, also played the victim and claimed the event was educational while claiming to “stand up to hate and bigotry.”
PRESS RELEASE: Rep. Austin responds to retaliation over drag story hour #azleg pic.twitter.com/xhkwIrzxXS
— Arizona House Democrats (@AZHouseDems) April 30, 2024
Fox reports,
In a statement posted to X, Planned Parenthood Arizona said in response to Toma that it’s another example “of Speaker Toma showing how out of touch he is with the values of Arizonans & their support for the LGTBQ community.”
“At Planned Parenthood Arizona, we are proud to offer gender-affirming care services and provide essential health care to everyone,” the group said. “We thank Rep. Lorena Austin for being a staunch ally and for their continued support in our fight for reproductive freedom. We will be sure to invite Speaker Toma to the next Drag Story Hour.”
State Sen. John Kavanaugh told Fox News Digital that it was the first time anything like the drag event had happened at the Capitol.
“And it wouldn’t have happened had they been truthful and said they wanted to have a drag queen story hour,” he said. “I mean, that in and of itself, is so inflammatory and controversial, which is probably why they didn’t mention that. So, it was the fact that they were deceptive in the explanation.”
Per Breitbart, “The event coincides with the Biden administration’s attempts to push gender confusion on children and adults alike. President Joe Biden’s deputies are trying to force transgenderism into workplaces via updated federal workplace guidelines that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released. Under the guidance, employers who adhere to biological reality will be committing workplace “harassment” if they refuse to allow employees to choose restrooms based on their gender identity rather than biological sex. Employers will also be committing workplace “harassment” if they “repeatedly misgender” employees.”
The post WATCH: “Listen to Your Kids” – Democrat Lawmakers Host ‘Drag Story Hour’ at Arizona State House to Promote Youth Gender Transitions appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
