Two New York Democrats running against each other in a congressional primary reportedly want to subsidize the program known as “Drag Story Hour” for school children, the news coming as the program has already been a drain on taxpayer money.
Incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman and former city Comptroller Brad Lander have reportedly expressed support for throwing federal funds at the program, the New York Post reported Tuesday:
“Unfortunately, the Majority does not allow funding from Members of Congress to support LGBTQIA+ programming,” Goldman wrote on a questionnaire from the Jim Owles LGBT Liberal Democratic Club in response to a question about whether he had “hosted, funded, or otherwise supported” a Drag Story Hour.
“However, once we take back the House, I certainly cannot wait to fund programs like Drag Story Hours and other programs,” added Goldman, who is seeking a third term.
In addition, a Lander spokesman told the outlet that if the Democrat won election he was looking forward to “funding affordable housing, health care, child care, USAID, libraries, and lots of arts and culture programs, most certainly including Drag Story Hour.”
The Post article noted city and state taxpayers had already bled almost $700,000 for the program that is run by Drag Artists for Expression NYC. The group was previously named Drag Story Hour NYC.
The organization partners with numerous public and private schools and public libraries to have drag queens read to children. The group recently posted a video of a drag queen reading a children’s book in Spanish about a child “who comes out as a trans boy after everyone thinks he was born a girl,” the video’s caption read:
In 2022, Breitbart News reported city records showed New York City’s public schools were spending taxpayer money on drag queen performances for children, often without parental knowledge or consent.
“Since its creation in 2018, Drag Queen Story Hour NYC — which recently changed its name to Drag Story Hour NYC — has received $207,000 in taxpayer funds,” the outlet said.
It also noted, “Drag queen story hours have been controversial for years, often being set up in public libraries for children to hear drag queens tell stories and read books, often times exposing them to gender ideology and other adult sexual topics. One common book, The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish, outrightly targets children with gender fluidity ideology.”
The city’s now former Mayor Eric Adams (D) was criticized in 2022 for praising “drag storytellers” and their contribution to the school system and students, and the following year New York Attorney General Letitia James planned to hold a “drag story hour” that welcomed children, per Breitbart News.
More recently in 2025, a drag queen show for a children’s advocacy group in New York was scrapped when the community found out about it and complained.
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