SNP MP Mhairi Black has been attacked for defending a visit by a sexually explicit drag act, called FlowJob, to a primary school.
Ms Black went with the drag queen to Glencoats Primary in her Paisley and Renfrewshire South constituency. The drag artist read to young children during the visit, which was to mark LGBT history month.
The visit outraged parents and Renfrewshire Council was forced to apologise after the event organised to explore the legacy of Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act.
Section 28 banned the “promotion of homosexuality” in schools and was later repealed.
The drag act has insisted that her act is tailored to suit the age-range of her audience, but the artist’s social media accounts contain explicit material.
Ms Black came under fire after taking to Twitter to justify the visit. In one of her tweets she claimed people were “pretending to be livid” and added: “Your homophobia is transparent.”
You just know that the people pretending to be livid that a drag queen read a book in a school in my mentions rn are also the people who run out to buy their kids the latest Grand Theft Auto on release day. Your homophobia is transparent.
— Mhairi Black MP🏳️🌈 (@MhairiBlack) February 24, 2020
If my school had invited a gay MP and a drag queen to visit during LGBT History Month, or even acknowledged that LGBT History Month existed, it would have made an immeasurable difference to the difficult childhoods my LGBT classmates and I had.
— Mhairi Black MP🏳️🌈 (@MhairiBlack) February 24, 2020
The SNP MP said: “If my school had invited a gay MP and a drag queen to visit during LGBT History Month, or even acknowledged that LGBT History Month existed, it would have made an immeasurable difference to the difficult childhoods my LGBT classmates and I had.
“Yet so many people in my mentions want acknowledgement of LGBT people shut down because you still think there’a something inappropriate in our existence. You’re willing to see another generation of LGBT people growing up believing that who they are should be hidden away.”
She added: “Never mind the fact that doing so in the past has left a massively disproportionate number of LGBT people, generation after generation including my own, suffering severe mental health problems and higher suicide rates.”
The MP added: “I completely applaud @PS_Glencoats for putting on such a great day, and I’m so grateful to have been invited along.”
North East Labour MSP Jenny Marra said: “Why are primary schools promoting sexualised content at all? Extremely worrying this happened and has been endorsed by an MP. What about children’s innocence?”
Spot on.👇Why are primary schools promoting sexualised content at all?Extremely worrying this happened and has been endorsed by an MP. What about children’s innocence? https://t.co/bQ5V7YbsxX
— Jenny Marra (@JennyMarra) February 24, 2020
Highland Tory MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston took issue with the tweet from Ms Black in which she claimed that those angered by the event were homophobic.
Mr Halcro Johnston said Ms Black’s remarks were “appalling” and utterly unacceptable”.
This is an appalling response from an SNP MP. You may disagree with the parents, but to label them homophobic and suggest they are irresponsible is utterly unacceptable. You should delete and apologise. https://t.co/sY2Vpf6OBK
— Jamie Halcro Johnston MSP (@jhalcrojohnston) February 24, 2020
On Twitter, the drag artist said she was introduced to the children as just “Flow”, adding: “I am a drag queen yes who does adult jokes, but I also do under 18 Venus (sic) and cater around children.”
Who would have thought I would of got so much abuse for reading wains a story book 🥴
— flowsaphine occupation (@flowjobqueen) February 23, 2020
A Renfrewshire Council spokeswoman said: “The school pupils at Glencoats Primary are currently organising a series of activities and events to mark LGBT history month.
“In discussion with pupils in their Rainbow Club, one of their requests was to invite people from the LGBT community to hear about their own experiences growing up and they wanted to invite a drag queen to talk to this group to hear about their own personal experience.
“Learning about values including equalities and diversity has an important role in the school curriculum.
“All school visits are arranged and managed with the wellbeing of pupils first and foremost however it is clear in this case, the social media content associated with the speaker’s stage persona is not appropriate for children and had we been aware of this, the visit would not have been arranged.
“We are sorry for the concern this has caused and are investigating.”
