Council Speaker Adrienne Adams slammed fellow Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Queens) on Thursday for attacks she made against a city-funded program where drag queens read stories to elementary school kids.
Earlier this week, Paladino tweeted that any schools in her Council district participating in the program — which she labeled “drag queen degeneracy” — would risk losing their funding.
“Adult drag performers have NO BUSINESS in our schools, and they will not be in my district. Period,” she wrote.
Her remarks prompted a swift and sizable backlash, which culminated Thursday in the Council Speaker’s rebuke.
“A New Yorker’s choice of dress, gender expression or identity must be not only protected legally, but also against vile, hateful attacks,” she said in a written statement. “Any form of hate, including transphobia, has no place in this city, and certainly not in this Council. The Council is looking into what further action may be warranted,”
In a subsequent press briefing, Adams went on to suggest that there might be further consequences, including stripping Paladino of her committee assignments.
“The Council is investigating right now Councilmember Paladino’s behavior and we’re investigating our options for taking swift action necessary to respond,” she said.
Asked explicitly if she thinks Paladino should lose her committee assignments, Adams replied: “The Council is considering all options.”
Adams’ remarks weren’t the only criticisms directed at Paladino. Days earlier, several elected officials took to social media to sound off on her as well.
“This is cruel, uninformed, and dangerous,” Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell (D-Manhattan) tweeted. “Reading a book with someone in makeup and a wig doesn’t hurt kids. Small-mindedness does.”
But despite the backlash, Paladino was not without her supporters.
“I stand with @VickieforNYC 100%,” tweeted Stefano Forte, a state senate candidate. “Children do not need to be around drag queens, period.”
The New York Young Republican Club tweeted that “children should be protected from sexualization in schools.”
But — on Twitter at least — Paladino’s detractors appeared to outnumber her supporters.
Councilman Chi Ossé (D-Brooklyn) also hit Paladino, a Republican, labeling her remarks “bigoted” in one of his tweets.
Paladino fired back, responding that “they REALLY want to expose your kids to drag queens for some reason.”
“Fortunately I answer only to the people of my district,” she wrote. “However I would like to invite Member Ossé to my district to meet with parents and teachers here. Perhaps we can all better understand each other.”
©2022 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
—-
This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology.
“A New Yorker’s choice of dress, gender expression or identity must be not only protected legally, but also against vile, hateful attacks,” she said in a written statement. “Any form of hate, including transphobia, has no place in this city, and certainly not in this Council. The Council is looking into what further action may be warranted,”
I guess morals and values don’t figure into your behavioral system, huh, Speaker Adams? As a responsible adult in the administration of your public schools, what young minds are being subjected to should certainly be a priority. How about your vile attacks on Christian principles? Are you expressing any hatred towards those? Practice what you preach, but keep your over-the-top sexual deviancies within your adult world—children do not need to be exposed to that.
Nope. NOR do the rights of NORMAL FOLK, to NOT have this degeneracy shoved in our kids faces, figure into their thinking.
Bigotry is not necessarily always a bad thing.
One need not tolerate or accept every belief or action of another.
Just another reason to avoid NY like the plague.
So, when do strippers and pole dancers get invited to school? Why are they being discriminated against?
Don’t give them any ideas.
Stop trying to sexually pervert our children!!
Since they can’t have kids of their own, THIS IS HOW they
“Procreate”.
BY Co-opting OUR kids.
Children develop their life long values and character during their first 10 years of life.
Why would any respectable person want to exspose little children to the unnatural sexual perversions of the disgraceful Democrat perverts.
Leave innocent children be innocent as long as they can be, teach them manners, respect and right from wrong, NOT sexual perversions even before the know what sex is!!!!
Parents need to run these perverts out of any school they show up at. By force if necessary!
AND not just these perves. BUT THOSE IN OFFICE< who push this nonsense.