Oklahoma State Groomers
Part 2: OSU officials are misleading the public about OSU’s efforts to push queer theory on students and children.
Part II of this series briefly describes queer theory (Gender, Sex, and Sexuality Marxism) and shows how OSU officials are misleading the public about OSU’s efforts to push queer theory on people, even children.
OSU promoted and hosted Drag Queen Story Hour during OSU's LGBTQ Pride 2022. OSU’s Museum of Art and Office of Multicultural Affairs partnered to provide Drag Queen Story Hour so that young children could interact with and listen to Drag Queens read the book "Red: A Crayon’s Story" by Michael Hall and "Speak Up" by Miranda Paul. This event is one example of how OSU pushes queer theory onto young children. Queer theory is Gender, Sex, and Sexuality Marxism.
In Cynical Theories, Pluckrose and Lindsay describe queer theory as:
“liberation from the normal, especially where it comes to norms of gender and sexuality. This is because it regards the very existence of categories of sex, gender, and sexuality to be oppressive…it [queer theory] is radically skeptical that these categories are based in any biological reality.” Queer theory is a political project that aims to “modify or unmake the concepts of sex, gender, and sexuality themselves and so tends to render itself baffling and irrelevant...Queer activists…tend to act with surprising entitlement and aggression…by ridiculing normative sexualities and genders and depicting those who recognize them as backwards and boorish.”
According to the Drag Queen Story Hour website:
“Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) is just what it sounds like—drag queens reading stories to children in libraries, schools, and bookstores. DQSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models. In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress up is real.”
OSU’s Drag Queen Story Hour took place on April 9th. Campus Reform reported about the event on April 15th and was quickly followed by Fox News. On April 19th. The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) published an articleabout the event and the article included the following statement from OSU’s President Shrum.
“As a state institution, we are committed to ensuring events and programs align with our education, research and extension mission. Additionally, we must consider if events and programs complement our historic values…We will use this occasion to consider our policies. Any adjustments to policies would bring greater certainty, clarity and processes to ensure alignment with our educational mission while adhering to state and federal law. While our look at our policies and practices will be helpful, at the end of the day, we must take into account that the event did not complement our institutional mission, a point we must acknowledge and consider moving forward.”
On April 26th, OCPA published another article about the response (or lack thereof) from officials tasked with oversight of Oklahoma colleges. According to the article, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education failed to address concerns the public expressed about OSU targeting children as young as two years old for Drag Queen Story Hour. Chancellor Allison Garrett stated:
“As the coordinating board for the state system of higher education, the State Regents’ responsibilities include prescribing academic standards, determining functions and programs of study at state colleges and universities, granting degrees, requesting appropriations on behalf of state system institutions, setting tuition and fees, approving institutional allocations and, upon review, providing final approval of institutional budgets following governing board approval and submission.”
OSU officials and Chancellor Garrett failed to mention the previous time (or times) OSU hosted Drag Queen Story Hour. In 2020, OSU provided a virtual DQSH since COVID prevented an in-person event. The video is still available on The Office of Multicultural Affairs – OSU Facebook page.
Several videos from OSU’s 2020 LGBTQ Pride are available online, and the public can still read about OSU Pride 2021. Information for OSU Pride 2022 is available, but some information was removed or altered after Drag Queen Story Hour made national headlines. 2022 Pride activities included Condom Bingo which has been promoted at OSU since at least 2018 as part of Pride activities, and in 2018 Pride also included Queering the Museum.
The Oklahoma Oral History Research Program documented the history of diverse sexuality and gender at OSU. The public can watch YouTube videos in the OSU Diverse Sexuality and Gender Collection to gain a historical perspective on sexuality and gender at OSU. This interview provides information about the OSU student LGBT club and drag events and shows hosted at OSU between 2011 and 2019.
In President Shrum’s response to DQSH, she stated, “we must consider if events and programs complement our historic values.” Still, neither President Shrum nor Chancellor Garrett mentioned OSU’s history of increasingly emphasizing “diverse sexuality and gender,” nor did they address OSU’s increasing commitment to DEI, including enforcement of Identify Marxism. Their statements did not explain why OSU has embedded queer theory into multiple aspects of OSU.
Shrum and Garrett did not mention OSU’s diversity training (mandatory until HB 1775 passed), Chosen Names and Pronouns Working Group, Bias Response Team, Equity Advocates, or Division of Institutional Diversity. They didn’t mention Oklahoma State University’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan, which describes the strategies and tasks OSU will implement between 2021-2024 to achieve OSU’s DEI goals, including the following:
– Integration of DEI into core academic missions of teaching, research, service and extension
– Enhancement of campus-wide DEI accountability, effectiveness, collaboration, and communication
In President Shrum’s response to DQSH, she stated, “As a state institution, we are committed to ensuring events and programs align with our education, research and extension mission.” Yet, OSU’s DEI goals clearly state that DEI (which includes queer theory) will integrate DEI into “core academic missions of teaching, research, service and extension.”
Neither President Shrum’s nor Chancellor Garrett’s statements included information about the amount of approved “intuitional allocations” or “institutional budgets” that is spent on DEI activities and initiatives at OSU. Garrett recently expressed gratitude to state legislatures for appropriating $873.4 million to Oklahoma higher education for FY23. A letterwritten by Dr. Kirksey, OSU’s Chief Diversity Officer, indicates OSU spends millions of dollars on DEI.
Garrett stated that State Regents are responsible for “prescribing academic standards, determining functions and programs of study at state colleges and universities.” Chancellor Garrett, how many changes in “academic standards” have the State Regents advised or approved to promote or support DEI at state universities? How many university “programs of study” exist to promote or support DEI? Why must students complete “D” (diversity) designated courses?
In President Shrum’s response to DQSH, she stated, “We will use this occasion to consider our policies. Any adjustments to policies would bring greater certainty, clarity, and processes to ensure alignment with our educational mission while adhering to state and federal law. While our look at our policies and practices will be helpful, at the end of the day, we must take into account that the event did not complement our institutional mission, a point we must acknowledge and consider moving forward.”
As an educator and Oklahoma taxpayer, I look forward to reading President Shrum’s and Chancellor Garrett’s tangible plan to adjust policies “to ensure alignment with our educational mission.” I look forward to them explaining what type of events “complement our institutional mission.” It is also good to know OSU will be “adhering to state and federal law,” given the increasing and legitimate concerns about discrimination toward people who oppose DEI and the progressive ideology and politics that accompany it.
This segment briefly outlined queer theory (Gender, Sex, and Sexuality Marxism) and described how public statements from President Shrum and Chancellor Garrett misled the public about DEI at OSU. Part 3 of this series will continue to focus on Gender, Sex, and Sexuality Marxism at OSU. Until then, enjoy this video of a Drag Queen explaining why “Drag is NOT for children.” Seems obvious but clearly, we have adults in Oklahoma that need to hear the “Drag is NOT for children” message.
