How drag became a battle in the culture wars

Reading events for children targeted by far-right and anti-woke groups

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6 March 2023

Good evening, 2022 was "the year of the drag queen", according to The i's Patrick Strudwick. Drag went mainstream in television, cinema and even politics, with Canada's PM Justin Trudeau becoming the first world leader to appear on the Drag Race franchise. But with a parallel escalation in protests, threats and attacks, Strudwick warned that it was too early to tell if "this era of history ultimately belongs to the queens, their fans, and their community – or to those trying to destroy them". Hollie Clemence Executive Editor

GETTING TO GRIPS WITH . . . How drag became a battle in the culture wars Drag reading events for children have become the latest culture war issue to cross the Atlantic, sparking a growing backlash from conservative and anti-woke groups in the UK. It is "the latest battlefield in America's rolling 'culture wars' over gender and education", said France 24, with "conservatives around the country training their sights on drag shows – assailing them as a threat to public decency and family values". In the US, the debate has centred on events known as Drag Queen Story Hour. Primarily aimed at children aged three to 11, these reading groups led by drag artists take place in libraries, schools, bookshops and museums and have spread across the country since being launched in San Francisco in 2015. "The idea is hardly a shock in a country where drag has moved from niche nightlife spots into the cultural mainstream," said France 24. But "that is not stopping part of the right from portraying Drag Queen Story Hour as a national nightmare: progressive activism gone wild at best, and at worst a sexually charged threat to 'children's innocence'". Read more

TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Will Sunak stem the tide of small boats? Rishi Sunak is putting the finishing touches to a plan he hopes will stop undocumented migrants arriving in small boats on Britain's shores. The prime minister is hoping to build on his achievement of securing a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, which has breathed life into his premiership, by announcing new legislation, expected to be called the Illegal Migration Bill, as soon as tomorrow. Briefings over the weekend suggest the bill will propose the swift detention and deportation to Rwanda or a "safe third country" of all those detained on small boats or entering the UK via "irregular routes". Read more

SPEED READS Selective Outrage: Chris Rock breaks silence on Will Smith and the Oscars Comedian accuses Jada Pinkett Smith of hurting her husband 'way more than he hurt me' Read more

More from TheWeek.co.uk today How the UN high seas treaty aims to protect the world's oceans Nearly 200 countries agreed to a legally binding protocol that has been two decades in the making Read more Global Lens articles Liverpool 7 Man Utd 0: 'welcome to Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool 2.0' Anfield's 'new front three' were on fire in the humbling of their bitter rivals Read more View from the Terraces articles Corporation tax rise: crippling investment or calculated risk? Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt will go ahead with business levy hike, despite warnings from prominent backbenchers Read more Talking Points

T H E  W E E K  M A G A Z I N E Restore your news-life balance Try The Week magazine today to get straight to the heart of the issues that matter, without angle or agenda. Our easily digestible format gives you the clarity and space to step away from the noise of the news. Start your free trial

WHAT THE SCIENTISTS ARE SAYING… Dark energy in black holes Back in the 1990s, scientists showed that the expansion of the universe is actually accelerating – the planets and stars are being pushed apart at an ever faster rate – although the pull of gravity between the objects should be slowing it down. To make sense of this, it was proposed that gravity was being overpowered by "dark energy" – a mysterious force that was linked to Einstein's concept (which he later rejected) of a "cosmological constant" that opposes gravity and prevents the universe collapsing. No one could really say where this proposed dark energy might be coming from. But now, scientists have pinpointed its possible source: black holes. These mind-bending phenomena are believed to be created when massive stars collapse in on themselves to an infinitely small point, creating a gravitational field so strong light cannot escape. Sucking in nearby stars and other objects, black holes have little obvious in common with the dark energy presumed to be pushing everything apart. But the international team behind the new theory observed that, in dormant galaxies, where there is little left to be sucked in, black holes were still increasing in mass. They posit, therefore, that dark energy is not spread across the universe, but is lurking in the cores of black holes, and driving their growth. The notion has been greeted with a considerable degree of scepticism in scientific circles. How, some have asked, could black holes be sucking in stars while also driving the universe apart? The study authors accept that they have proved nothing, but argue that their findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal and The Astrophysical Journal Letters, are robust enough to warrant further scrutiny.

spirit of the age Gen Z slang enters the office Middle-aged and older workers are increasingly adopting Gen Z slang in a bid to connect with younger colleagues, a survey has found. Expressions that are moving up the generational chain include "I'm feeling it", to express approval, "hits different", to describe something being better than usual (as in, "Lunch hits different when someone else is paying") and "extra", meaning over the top.

PICTURE OF THE DAY Celebrating Holi Hindus pray at a temple in Vrindavan, India, during the Holi festival of colours. Avishek Das/SOPA Images via Zuma Press Wire

Good week for... The calçot, a Catalan green onion, which is growing in popularity across Spain and beyond.

Bad week for... Toothache sufferers, after it emerged that an estimated 11 million people in England were unable to get an NHS dentist appointment last year, leaving some DIY dentists to pull out their own rotting teeth.

Puzzles Daily crossword Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section Read more

instant opinion 'Slipping a gong to his father suggests Boris Johnson's morals haven't improved' Your digest of analysis from the British and international press from the past seven days Former prime minister Boris Johnson has nominated his father, Stanley Johnson, for a knighthood, among the 100 or so names on his resignation honours list. "This is, to put it mildly, unattractive," said The Times in today's leader. "Cabinet Office officials will wish to scrutinise Stanley Johnson's proposed knighthood with particular care in view of the allegation by former minister Caroline Nokes that he once smacked her on the backside, which Mr Johnson denies," said The Times. Given that Johnson the younger "obviously wishes to return to the front line of politics" he must realise that the "greatest obstacle" would be a perception among the public and Conservative Party members that he and his government "fell some way short of the standards of honesty and integrity legitimately expected of those who hold high office", said the paper. "Slipping gongs to much of Westminster, and a family member, is unlikely to convince his critics that his moral character has been purified by a spell on the back benches." Read more

Recipe of the week Gigantes (white butter beans) with spinach and chard Using high-quality dried beans is important for this Greek dish Read more

DOWN TO BUSINESS Monday afternoon markets The export-heavy FTSE 100 fell today as China set a modest growth target of "around 5%" for the year, its lowest target for more than three decades. FTSE 100: 7,913.11, down 0.43% Dax: 15,656.23, up 0.50% Dow: 33,469.06, up 0.23% Dollar: £1 = $1.2010, down 0.27% Euro: £1 = €1.1269, down 0.49% Brent crude: $85.15, down 0.79% Gold: $1,853.80, up 0.33%

WIT & WISDOM "I would never die for my beliefs, because I might be wrong." Bertrand Russell, quoted on The Browser

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