Drag queen performer speaks out after story time canceled by Madison Heights City Council
Madison Heights City Council voted to prohibit a Drag Queen Storytime just one week ahead of a Pride Month event happening Sunday.
The council voted 4-3 during a special workshop meeting on Monday.
Drag performer Jadein Black says she was offended to hear Madison Heights City Council voted to keep her from reading to children at Sunday's Art and Pride event, but it won't stop her from being who she is.
"To me, it's very sad, and the one message I have for these city council people is when someone comes out in their family that's LGBTQA+, I hope they look at them the same way before they came out," Black said.
Black says she's hosted Drag Storytimes all around Metro Detroit, but she won't be allowed to do that in Madison Heights.
"This is the only event in my career where I was asked to show what I was going to wear at my storytime and what books I would be reading," she said.
An event organizer says those concerns stem from a major misconception about drag as an art form.
"We were equally dismayed to see that stereotypes about drag are alive and well. There were preconceived notions that drag is stripping or that drag is burlesque," said Arts and Pride subcommittee volunteer Jennifer Nagle.
Three of the seven council members voted against prohibiting drag story time. Arts and Pride planned to spend the $300 in sponsor donations to book Black's performance.
"I wish they would have talked to me or my dozen plus volunteers. We could have alleviated these concerns, but instead they rushed to this meeting and rushed to conclusions," Nagle said.
Madison Heights Mayor Corey Haines issued a statement after voting to prohibit Drag Storytime at the event:
The Madison Heights City Council did not cancel the Arts & Pride festival scheduled for June 7, 2026, at Civic Center Park. The festival is expected to proceed as planned.
The City Council voted to cancel a proposed program, "Drag Queen Story Time," which would have involved a drag performer reading books and performing his/her act to children. According to council members who supported the decision, concerns included the appropriateness of the program for children and its potential impact on attendance by some families.
The Arts & Pride festival has been held annually since 2022. The proposed story time program had not been part of previous festival events.
Black says she's still planning to attend the Arts and Pride event, which is expected to go on as planned from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. this Sunday, just without the story time component.
