PBS高端访谈:进入变装皇后故事时间（在线收听）

JUDY WOODRUFF: And now to our NewsHour shares. Storybook hours often seek to entertain young children, while inspiring a love of reading. But one organization is turning the tables on who is turning the pages. The NewsHour's Julia Griffin explains.

JULIA GRIFFIN: At the Adams Morgan Community Center in Washington, D.C. recently, parents and their tiny tots sat patiently, riveted by a storybook and its reader. This is Drag Queen Story Hour. It's your classic children's reading program, with a twist: The day's literary leader is a larger-than-life drag queen.

DOMINGX, Drag Queen: Everybody wave to each other. Make a friend next to you, OK?

JULIA GRIFFIN: Author Michelle Tea first created Drag Queen Story Hour in San Francisco in 2015. Its goal? To inspire a love of reading, while teaching deeper lessons on diversity, self-love and an appreciation of others.

DOMINGX: Everyone is different and everyone is not bad, said Scooter, who is a turtle. Different is special.

JULIA GRIFFIN: Today, readings take place at libraries, museums and other cultural centers in more than 30 cities across the country. Some are small affairs, but many, like the one in Washington, D.C., play to full houses.

LIZ FEHRENBACH, Parent: just love drag queens in general. It's a great opportunity to combine having a little one and enjoying, like, the performance of drag.

AUDREY IRIBERRI, Parent: I think it's important that we see different people, that mom and dad look different from other people, and lots of people love you and have stories for you. And we can learn from everybody.

JULIA GRIFFIN: Johnna Percell is a children's librarian with D.C. Public Library.

JOHNNA PERCELL, D.C. Public Library: It's just really been obvious that there was a need for this in our community.

JULIA GRIFFIN: The library partnered with the D.C. chapter of Drag Queen Story Hour to bring the family-friendly events to the nation's capital.

JOHNNA PERCELL: We talk a lot in children's literature about stories being both windows and mirrors, so Drag Queen Story Hour can be doing both. There may be a kid here who is seeing themselves reflected in a queen and see the possibility for what their lives could be, and then, if not, there's a child that's seeing how someone else lives.

DOMINGX: Let's try this with Neil's. Ooh, one down.

JULIA GRIFFIN: DomingX, who goes by J.J. Vera when not in drag, has been performing drag at local D.C. bars and theaters for more than three years. She first learned about the organization after other Drag Queen Story Hours faced pushback from community groups objecting to LGBTQ themes being presented to children. New York City's Drag Queen Story Hour head, Rachel Aimee.

RACHEL AIMEE, Executive Director, Drag Queen Story Hour, NYC: A lot of Drag Queen Story Hours in other parts of the country have had serious backlash and people protesting their events and disrupting them and, in some cases, even events have been canceled.

JULIA GRIFFIN: The New York City chapter now runs the whole organization's Web site and social media channels, and sets guidelines for how to run Drag Queen Story Hour events.

RACHEL AIMEE: We do provide support and guidance to chapters who are facing that backlash.

JULIA GRIFFIN: In the Big Apple, Drag Queen Story Hours have become so popular that the chapter now offers events in Spanish and for children with autism and other special needs. The chapter also hosts drag queen fashion design and makeup workshops for older kids. The point, Aimee said, is to create safe spaces for anyone interested in participating.

RACHEL AIMEE: LGBTQ kids often don't see themselves reflected in the broader culture, so it can be life-changing and even lifesaving to have that kind of affirming programming in their libraries and schools.

JULIA GRIFFIN: And for DomingX, whether the kids understood what a drag queen is wasn't the point. Instead, she was glad everyone seemed to enjoy the show.

DOMINGX: Drag Queens are just here to entertain. We can read. We're intelligent. Like, we are harmless. And I just hope that, you know, moving forward, it kind of just, like, stretches those imaginations a little bit, to continue normalizing it and give people a little bit more fearlessness to take home with them.

JULIA GRIFFIN: Fearlessness, with a dash of fun. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Julia Griffin in Washington, D.C.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：欢迎收听《新闻一小时》。人们通常都希望能通过读书时间来为孩子们带来欢乐，同时也激发孩子们对阅读的热情。不过，有一个组织标新立异，让儿童阅读进入了新篇章。下面请听我台记者茱莉亚·格里芬发回的报道。

茱莉亚·格里芬：最近，在华盛顿特区的亚当摩根社群中心，一些父母和自己的孩子们静静地坐着，父母是讲故事的人，孩子则是听众。这里是《变装皇后故事时间》。这档节目是专门让孩子听故事的，不过我们的独特性在于：我们节目的主咖是拥有传奇人生的变装皇后。

DOMINGX，变装皇后：大家彼此挥手，跟坐在你旁边的人交个朋友，好不好？

茱莉亚·格里芬：作家米歇尔·迪首次在旧金山创办《变装皇后故事时间》是在2015年。这档节目的目标是什么呢？就是激发人们对阅读的热情，同时也让大家更懂得多样性、自爱、欣赏他人。

DOMINGX：每个人都是与众不同的，每个人本质都不坏，一只叫速达克的乌龟说道。与众不同就是特别。

茱莉亚·格里芬：今天，人们会在图书馆、博物馆等文化中心读书，这样的文化中心遍布美国的30多个城市。有些文化中心空间较为狭小，但很多文化中心（比如华盛顿特区的那个）就有很大的占地面积。

利兹·菲润巴赫，一位家长：总体来说，我很喜欢变装皇后。这是绝好的机会，既可以让孩子参与其中，也可以欣赏变装皇后的表演。

奥德丽，一位家长：我认为很重要的一点是——我们会遇到不同的人，会发现父母跟其他人长得不一样，会发现很多人都喜欢你并愿意跟你分享故事。我们从每个人身上都能学到东西。

茱莉亚·格里芬：普赛迩是华盛顿特区公共图书馆的儿童图书管理员。

普赛迩，华盛顿特区公共图书馆：有一件事很明显，那就是我们的社群需要这样的契机。

茱莉亚·格里芬：该图书馆跟华盛顿特区的《变装皇后故事时间》合作，在华盛顿举办了许多适合家庭参与的活动。

普赛迩：我们分享了很多与打开心窗、以他人为鉴来自省的儿童故事，这档节目可以一箭双雕实现这两件事。或许孩子能在变装皇后身上看到自己的影子，或许能看到自己未来可能变成的样子。亦或他们能看到别人的生活是什么样子。

DOMINGX：让我们来用Neil的试一下吧，嗷，失算了。

茱莉亚·格里芬：DomingX在这档节目之外，会在华盛顿当地的一些酒吧和影院里表演换装，他已经做了3年多了。她第一次听说这个组织是在《变装皇后故事时间》播出受到一些社群团体反对之后，因为当时有一些社群团体反对让孩子们接触LGBTQ主题（女同性恋者（lesbians）、男同性恋者（gays）、双性恋者（bisexuals）、跨性别者（transgender）和酷儿（queer））的内容。下面请听纽约市《变装皇后故事时间》节目负责人雷切尔·艾梅的采访内容。

雷切尔·艾梅，纽约市《变装皇后故事时间》的执行总监：这档节目在美国的其他地方遭遇了强烈的反对，很多人抗议并扰乱节目的正常进行。有时候，甚至还有节目活动因此取消的情况。

茱莉亚·格里芬：纽约市分会现在负责运营整个组织的官网和各个社交渠道，还为节目的各项活动设立指南。

雷切尔·艾梅：我们确实会提供一些支持和指导性的帮助，帮他们度过难关。

茱莉亚·格里芬：这档节目现在已经风靡纽约，活动甚至提供西班牙语版本，还会迎合有自闭症等特殊需求的儿童的需要。节目还会为年龄稍大一些的孩子提供变装皇后的时装设计以及妆容工作室。艾梅说，我们的目的是为想要参与的人提供安全空间。

雷切尔·艾梅：LGBTQ儿童在流行文化中通常看不到自己的影子，所以，这档节目可以改变他们的人生，甚至挽救生命，因为节目在图书馆和学校里都有播出。

茱莉亚·格里芬：对DomingX而言，孩子是否能理解变装皇后究竟是什么其实不重要。她只是希望大家都能从节目中获得快乐。

DOMINGX：变装皇后们在这里只是为了给大家带来欢乐，我们可以阅读，我们可以收获知识，大家在这里也不必担心安全问题。此外，我很希望未来能拓展一下想象力，让这种互动成为常态，让人们在任何地方都可以以坦然地心态做这件事。

茱莉亚·格里芬：坦然的同时，收获欢乐。感谢收听茱莉亚·格里芬从华盛顿发回的报道。