‘A bit sneaky’: ABC faces backlash over drag queen story time event plans

The Australian’s Media Writer Sophie Elsworth says the ABC was “a bit sneaky” in its callout for children to participate in the national broadcaster’s Drag Queen Story Time event. The head of the ABC Queer and Mardi Gras presenter Monique Schafter sent out an appeal on social media. The presenter posted in a Facebook group called ‘Rainbow Families Community’ that: “The ABC is filming a drag story time event for the 2024 Mardi Gras broadcast and is looking for children between ages 3-5 years to take part. If you and your tiny humans are interested in taking part, please email.” “I think the ABC’s been a bit sneaky here because the callout for children ... was not done on their social media platforms,” Ms Elsworth told Sky News host Andrew Bolt. “I think they were hoping people wouldn’t cotton on to this, but of course, there was a backlash, and now they’ve cancelled it. “I’m wondering why is the taxpayer spending money on this sort of content.”