Danielle Scampini Linn, a mother in Wisconsin, has received applause online for her moving speech at a PBS News Hour town hall event about the issues that actually matter to her as a parent.
“When I put my kids to bed at night, I’m not afraid of Drag Queen Story Hour. I’m afraid of what’s actually going to happen to them. I’m afraid of what the planet will look like in the next 20 years because we’re not taking care of it,” she said.
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Linn was an attendee at a town hall hosted by PBS News Hour’s Judy Woodruff, as a part of “Crossroads: A Conversation with America,” in which Woodruff and her team talk to Americans to find out what unites them and what divides them.
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Linn has three children, a five-year-old, a seven-year-old, and a two-year-old. She said she has taken her children to drag queen story hours, and “it’s like going to any other princess party”
“There is nothing sexual about a drag queen story hour geared towards children,” Linn said.
Linn then talked about the impact gun violence has had on American society and American families. “What is scary is the idea that I think, every single day when I drop my kids off at school, will I see them come home? or will someone come into the school and shoot them?”
Gun violence, specifically American’s easy access to guns, is especially personal for Linn, who shared that her father died by suicide ten years ago because “he was very easily able to access a gun in this state, despite having a mental illness.”
Linn also stood up for trans kids, denouncing the discrimination and bullying that trans kids face. “I also think, as my kids get older, will they be made to feel othered because people are afraid of their self-expression, and so then they will harm themselves?”
“So when I think about things that are scary when I put my kids to bed at night, I’m not afraid of a drag queen story hour. I’m afraid of what’s actually going to happen to them,” Linn said.
She blamed the rhetoric that surrounds trans issues and trans rights in right-leaning and right-wing news sources, which creates fearmongering among people.
“It is causing us really not to focus on the issues that are going to keep kids safe,” Linn ended her speech.
As a parent, concerns over what your child is exposed to don’t include drag shows, Wisconsin voter Danielle Scampini Linn tells PBS News’ @JudyWoodruff.
“What’s scary is the idea that I think every single day when I drop my kids at school: ‘Will I see them come home or will… pic.twitter.com/3LwHhPbK9o
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