Las Reinas de los Cuentos (The Queens of the Stories)

In September of 2019, I read about a protest that occurred at the city of Chula Vista's Main Library organized by an anti-LGBTQ hate group from Boston, MA. The group demanded the cancellation of the library’s upcoming drag queen reading event. Soon after, I learned that drag queens have been reading stories to children in public libraries throughout the USA and in several other countries since 2015, and have been subjected to many such protests in cities throughout the USA.
As a filmmaker who has produced and directed several documentaries examining different facets of the LGBTQ experience, I felt this story was especially important to tell. The subject was extremely polarizing among adults: some saw the reading hour as inappropriate and even dangerous, while for others it was a celebration of reading, imagination, and acceptance of LGBTQ people.
After spending time with Jaime and Francisco, the two queens profiled in the film, I saw their commitment to children’s education and community building. Through their stories told through the art of drag, they demonstrate the importance of self-acceptance and being true to yourself, a critical message for all children to internalize for themselves.
I made the film to present Jaime and Francisco’s view that exposing children and their families to drag and LGBTQ people through reading events is a positive experience, and an important one to build bridges of understanding between the LGBTQ community and the larger society. It’s a story for parents who are unfamiliar with, and may have reservations about, such reading events. It’s a story to inspire Latinx and LGBTQ youth to live their own truth, and one to share with LGBTQ allies, to help make our world more compassionate and accepting of difference.