New research has found that Drag Queen Storytime (DQS) childhood literacy events at public libraries and bookshops in the USA and Australia between 2018 and 2020 became sites of networked online and offline hate by anti-LGBTQ groups.
Digiqueer criminologist at the University of Newcastle, Dr Justin Ellis has found that networked hate against DQS events has encouraged vilification and harassment against LGBTQ individuals and communities online and in-person.
Examining the intersection of hate rhetoric, right-wing extremism and the use of social media to amplify messages of hate and their translation into in-person violence, Dr Ellis said that Christian anti-LGBTQ hate groups and activists, and far-right groups have capitalised on the so-called ‘Trump effect’, and mobilised to protest the DSQ events to such a level that it has become a form of censorship.
Dr Ellis’ findings are published in the . A full copy of the report can be made available. Please call Dr Ellis on the number below to request.
