A Jewish college professor portraying a drag queen led a group of young children in a chant to “free Palestine” at a queer storytime event held in a Massachusetts town that is nicknamed the lesbian capital of the world.
The drag queen, who goes by the name Little Miss Hot Mess, used his own version of a familiar children’s rhyme in leading the children.
He led them into the chant by shouting out to them from stage, “If you are a drag queen and you know it and you really want to show it,” with the children taught to follow with—“free Palestine.”
The kids were fed the prompt line several times by the drag queen, one of two involved in the presentation.
The verse is based on the more familiar rhyme line, “If you’re happy and you know it and you really want to show it, clap your hands.”
It is often used in children’s TV shows like Barney & Friends and Sesame Street.
The event, which was entitled Queer Storytime For Palestine, was held at the Northampton Center For The Arts (NCFA) on April 14. But a video of it posted on X has sparked recent outrage.
Etian Fischberger, a former staff member with the Israeli Air Force who now serves as a U.S. international relations and Middle East analyst, called it “an indoctrination double whammy,” adding that “Free Palestine” has met “drag queen story hour” in a post on X.
One user who re-posted the video on his X account wrote, “How long before American children are going to be taught to chant ‘bomb Tel Aviv’ and ‘globalize the intifada?’”
Other groups questioned the rationale behind the LGBT community’s support of a country known routinely to exact violence against their own LGBT people.
“The harsh reality? Members of the LGBTQ+ community are often murdered in Gaza and other Palestinian areas such as Ramallah,” posted the national watchdog group StopAntiSemitism.
According to Human Dignity Trust, an international legal defense organization that advocates for humane treatment of LGBT people globally, same-sex sexual activity is against the law in Gaza and carries up to ten years in prison.
In 2022, a video was released of a gay man being beheaded in Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank outside of Gaza. A Palestinian was later arrested for the grisly killing.
The NCFA did not respond to enquiries about the pro-Palestinian queer children’s story hour.
As of Friday, the arts center had removed any trace of the event from its website and online calendars.
A group called “Valley Families For Palestine” has been identified as being behind the event.
Following the backlash, the event organizer made its Instagram page private and removed all contact information from its website.
According to the New England Network For Justice For Palestine, which promoted the event, it was recommended for children of preschool through upper elementary school ages.
It included a recommended $5 donation for the event, with proceeds being advertised as going to Al Qaws, which describes itself as a Palestinian LGBTQ movement.
The Epoch Times has confirmed that Harris Kornstein, a Jewish man and a humanities professor at the University of Arizona, was the drag queen leading the children in the “free Palestine” chant.
According to his website, he has performed all over the country, including at the San Francisco bar The Stud, as well as on television including Saturday Night Live. He is currently on the Board of Directors for the national group Drag Queen Story Hour.
He is also listed on a website for drag queen artists around the country as the co-founder of the #MyNameIs campaign in protest of Facebook’s real name policy.
Mr. Kornstein is named on Turning Point USA’s professors watch list for promoting sexual behavior to children. He is also among several Jewish writers who recently signed a letter pledging their support for Palestine.
The letter, published by the UK-based nonprofit “Jewish Voice For Labour” and promoted by Queer Artists For Palestine, disputes criticism that criticizing Israel and supporting a Palestinian state is anti-Semitic.
“Israel and its defenders have long used this rhetorical tactic to shield Israel from accountability, dignify the U.S.’s multibillion-dollar investment in Israel’s military, obscure the deadly reality of occupation, and deny Palestinian sovereignty,” their letter states. “Now, this insidious gagging of free speech is being used to justify Israel’s ongoing military bombardment of Gaza and to silence criticism from the international community.”
In addition to leading the children in the “free Palestine” chorus, Mr. Kornstein also read to them from a book he wrote, entitled “If You’re a Drag Queen and You Know It.”
He has used other familiar children’s rhymes as the basis of other books he has written.
Mr. Kornstein also authored the book “The Hips On The Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish,” an offshoot of the classic nursery book “The Wheels On The Bus Go Round and Round.”
Excerpts from the book he read at the Northampton event include “if you’re a drag queen and you know it, blow a kiss,“ and ”let it show by shaking your bum.”
Northampton, located in The Berkshires region of Massachusetts, was dubbed “Lesbianville, USA” by the National Enquirer in 1992 and has since been called the lesbian capital of the world by several publications, including most recently The Massachusetts Daily Collegian.
Mr. Kornstein did not respond to inquiries from The Epoch Times for comment.
