Screenshot: YouTube - 'Kids React To Drag,' Channel 4 Entertainment

As the GOP continues to push anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country, drag queens have become the flashpoint of the debate.

Flanked by the same, “What about the children?” arguments that fueled Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, they first came for drag queen story hours—events aimed to entertain and educate kids—and more recently have made attempts to ban drag all-together.

Take Tennessee, for example, where a bill was recently passed that bans drag performances in any place where minors might be present. But that only scratches the surface of the sinister anti-queer and trans agenda:

“These bills are framed as an attack against drag performers,” Sybastian Smith, Director of Organizing for the National Center for Transgender Equality, tells LGBTQ Nation. “But it actually seeks to criminalize the very existence of transgender people by labeling gender expression and gender-affirming clothing as ‘drag.'”

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According to GLAAD, 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced on the state level. Let’s not mince words: This is an all-out homophobic attack on the queer community, and a deliberate attempt to legislate trans people out of existence.

But, at least according to the conservative law-makers behind it, this is all an effort to “protect the children.” Sure Jan.

And that’s why it’s no accident that a three-year old video titled “Kids React To Drag” has recently resurfaced on TikTok, feeling more urgent and relevant than ever.

@kraken.countercouture @ReubenKaye on @Channel 4 with the toughest of audiences…Kids! Here wearing our bespoke striped lamé and crystal lapel jacket 💥 . . . #krakencountercouture #dragqueen #channel4 #bbc #costumedesign #london ♬ original sound – kraken.countercouture

This week, London-based LGBTQ+ fashion studio Kraken Counter Couture shared a clip of a 2020 video in which queer comedian and performer Reuben Kaye chats with kids in a classroom setting.

Originally produced for the U.K.’s Channel 4, the concept of the video is that Kaye “goes back to school to meet his toughest audience yet—a group of schoolkids!”

And while Kaye opens up about his own school years—in which he was subjected to bullying simply for “being different”—the clip takes on an even deeper resonance in light of recent events, as his young interviewees respond with open minds, genuine curiosity, and compassion.

Though Kaye doesn’t present as a drag queen, per se, he does wear platform heels, a sparkly stoned blazer, and some flashy makeup, which is met with laughter and admiration from the kids.

Even one point where it seems one of them might challenge Kaye’s choices—”you can’t put [makeup] onto boys”—is quickly diffused when the child says a giant decorative penguin in the corner of the room told him that.

But it’s near the video’s end where things become truly special. After Kaye shares his own experiences with school, admitting it “wasn’t a fun time” for him, the kids are nothing but warm and supportive.

“At least you actually have the guts to do things [that] other people can’t,” says one floppy-haired child.

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“I feel like everyone should be who they want to be and people shouldn’t tell them what to do,” sums up another, wise beyond their years.

Just trying watching one kid tell Kaye, “if I was there, I would’ve helped you—I think everyone would,” without tearing up.

The entire video, which you can watch below, is a nice reminder that the kids are alright. Left to their own devices, they’ll accept the world with open hearts. It’s the parents who teach them hate and fear—and to not accept other just because they’re “different”—that we need to be worried about.

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