I do know several drag queens. And they are uniformly sweet, kind, caring people who are fiercely protective of the vulnerable, INCLUDING children. They know what it's like to be marginalized and hated, and how horrible kids can be to each other. So they go out of their way to make others feel safe and seen and protected. The whole idea that they're "grooming kids" just hurts my heart. They would NEVER do anything to harm a child, or anyone else, in any way whatsoever.
I've never seen it. But when I travel, I often stay in hostels, which tend to have large populations of international travelers. One time we stayed a couple of weeks at a hostel with a group of German high school students and their chaperones. My dad's Jewish, and the subject of the Holocaust came up in conversation. The kids explained it like this: Germany doesn't shy away, at all, from teaching exactly what happened. It starts in the earliest grades and goes more in-depth as they get older. Because Germans are unafraid to call it what it was: an absolute atrocity that can never be repeated. They said they do feel some guilt, and even apologized to my father. He basically said that they, themselves, weren't responsible for it, none of us were alive then, and they had no reason to feel guilty. And the kids said something along the lines of, "No. We should feel guilty, because we carry that legacy. And that's okay, because it reminds us to be better people each and every day."
I realize that one group of high school students doesn't speak for all Germans. But I really liked their perspective on it. This happened, it's part of our legacy, but we're using that collective memory to help us become better people. What's wrong with that?
