Drag Queen Story Hour expanding to 'rural' Bay Area communities

Despite protests, Drag Queen Story Hour was a big hit in Brentwood on Monday night. Despite protests, Drag Queen Story Hour was a big hit in Brentwood on Monday night. Photo: Courtesy Melissa Van Ruiten Photography Photo: Courtesy Melissa Van Ruiten Photography Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Drag Queen Story Hour expanding to 'rural' Bay Area communities 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

Drag queens may be coming to a library near you.

Drag Queen Story Hour, a program that brings drag queens to libraries, schools and bookstores for storybook readings, is planning to expand to more rural parts of the Bay Area after receiving a $10,000 grant from the Horizons Foundation.

Drag Queen Story Hour started at the San Francisco Public Library and now has chapters around the world, from San Marcos, Texas to Tokyo, Japan. With the funding boost provided by the recent grant, the group is hoping to reach more kids around the Bay Area.

"Since its founding, Drag Queen Story Hour in the Bay Area has focused on San Francisco and Alameda counties, because their public libraries have budgets large enough to pay for them. This Horizons grant will bring the program to other counties, focused on rural communities and communities of color," Horizons said in a press release.

The exact locations are still yet to be determined, but a spokesperson for the foundation told SFGATE they are scoping out rural communities in Solano, Napa, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Alameda counties.

Drag Queen Story Hour has hosted at least one event in Contra Costa County before; a Brentwood gathering in 2019 drew much attention and about 500 attendees (who far outnumbered the 25 or so protesters).

In a 2018 survey of LGBTQ community needs, Horizons identified a divide between attitudes in the more urban San Francisco and Alameda counties and elsewhere in the region: "Our data shows that while only 20% of San Francisco LGBTQ respondents reported not feeling a connection to the LGBTQ community, a full 40% in the North Bay and 43% in the South Bay reported the same."

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Drag Queen Story Hour's mission is to help bridge that divide, at least among children, by giving kids "glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models, demonstrating the freedom of gender fluidity and giving children permission to pursue their own authentic selves."

The Horizons Foundation funds LGBTQ organizations and programs throughout the Bay Area. The donation to Drag Queen Story Hour was one of 48 grants announced this week, totaling $415,734, according to the Horizons Foundation.

Alix Martichoux is an SFGATE digital editor. Read her latest stories and send her news tips at alix.martichoux@sfgate.com.