[7] The program strives to "capture the imagination and play of gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models".

Critics say it contributes to the “sexualization” or “grooming” of children; proponents argue that these complaints amount to a "moral panic" and anti-LGBT prejudice spurred on by "right-wing misinformation".

Drag Story Hour was started in 2015 in San Francisco by author Michelle Tea, who was also the executive director of nonprofit Radar Productions at the time; the first events were organized by Juliàn Delgado Lopera and Virgie Tovar.

[14] The first event was held at the Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library in the LGBT Castro neighborhood of San Francisco and featured drag queens and was well received.

[15][14][16] Other early DSH events in San Francisco featured several drag queens of color, including Honey Mahogany, Yves St. Croissant, and Panda Dulce.

[14][17][18] As of February 2020, there are 50+ official chapters of DSH, spread internationally, as well as other drag artists holding reading events at libraries, schools, bookstores, and museums.

[14] In October 2022, the nonprofit organization officially changed its name to Drag Story Hour, to be more inclusive and "reflect the diverse cast of storytellers.

[22] One popular book at DSH is This Day in June, written by Gayle Pitman and illustrated by Kristyna Litten, which introduces the reader to the idea of an LGBTQ pride parade.

[24] West authored the children’s album Drag Is Magic, featuring RED: A Crayon Story by Michael Hall as the first book of the online series.

[27] Proponents of drag queen story hour say events can "capture the imagination and play of gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models".

[28] Nina West argues drag lets children be "creative" and "think outside the boxes us silly adults have crafted for them.

[34] In August 2019, a petition by LifeSiteNews and Personhood Alliance, both pro-life activism groups, asked the American Library Association (ALA) to stop promoting the story hours; it gathered nearly 100,000 signatures.

[35] The ALA responded by affirming its support for DSH events, stating that it "strongly opposes any effort to limit access to information, ideas and programmes that patrons wish to explore" and "includes a commitment to combating marginalisation and underrepresentation within the communities served by libraries through increased understanding of the effects of historical exclusion.

In November 2022, a drag queen appeared on the children's television program Play School reading a book about crossdressing, which drew criticism from many.

Critics included the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) and the Liberal Party, with the state's Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson criticising the event for being inappropriate.

[48] In May 2023, a motorcycle gang formed a human chain to protect patrons from anti-drag protestors and escorted them inside a drag storytime event at Middlesex County Library in Parkhill, Ontario.

[55] On 19 March 2024, a proposed drag storytime event at Rotorua's Library organised by drag performers Sunita Torrance (Coco) and Daniel Lockett (Erika Flash) attracted opposition from Rotorua Lakes Councillor Robert Lee and Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki, with the latter threatening to stage a protest if the event went ahead.

Rotorua Lake Councillor Fisher Wang criticised opponents for promoting anti-LGBT rhetoric while Lee described the proposed event as inappropriate to children.

[58] Later that day, Destiny Church members and LGBT counter-protesters gathered outside Gisborne's library where Erika and Coco Flash were hosting the Drag Queen reading.

[62] According to The New Zealand Herald, Hastings councillors, library staff and the council customer service were inundated with messages accusing the drag queen events of promoting child sexual grooming.

[61] In late April 2024, Rainbow Storytime NZ founder Sunita Torrance announced that a nationwide story hour tour scheduled for later in the year had been cancelled in order to focus on a defamation case against Destiny Church.

By contrast, Destiny Church leader Tamaki welcomed the cancellation of Rainbow Storytime NZ's tours on social media.

In response, Destiny Church said it would continue to advocate for children's well-being and accused the New Zealand Herald of promoting crowdfunding for the drag performers' legal case.

[72]: 4, 8  During the time period studied, the ISD report found Proud Boys, White Lives Matter, Blood Tribe, Protect Texas Kids, and Guardians of Divinity groups involved in various incidents targeted at Drag Queen Story Hour events.