Tyra Banks & Discovery+ Exploit Teens in “Generation Drag” Docuseries

The documentary series will also feature parents “learning how to guide a child who wants to embrace drag” and stepping outside their “comfort zones” to “be there for their children who are still finding themselves,” according to the streaming service. Parents can show their “unwavering support” for transgender children by adjusting to new pronouns, buying for platform shoes, and performing alongside their children in a drag show, according to Discovery+.

Critics worry that drag shows for teens are about little more than “hypersexualization.” Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire has written a column titled “Now the Left is Normalizing Pedophilia Right in Front of Our Eyes.” This growing phenomenon of so-called “drag kids,” he points out, is normalizing the sexualization of children, with a ‘drag kid’ who posed with a naked man, and the ‘drag kid’ who danced at a gay bar while men tossed money at him” being two of many prominent examples. 

Jay W. Richards, of The Heritage Foundation, says that he believes a TV series about drag performances for kids could increase the “social contagion” of gender dysphoria, noting that children are “impressionable.”

He would not be surprised if that were the producers’ goal in creating the show. He warned of an “ideological cementing” imposed on kids through social media and even their parents.

“So the very idea that you would have any kind of drag for young kids, I think it’s just absolutely outrageous.”

Richards told The Christian Post that he believes a series about drag performances for kids could increase the “social contagion” of gender dysphoria, noting that children are “impressionable.” He said that he would not be surprised if that were the producers’ goal in creating the show. He warned of an “ideological cementing” imposed on kids through social media and even their parents. 

According to a 2016 study titled “Gender dysphoria in childhood,” 61-98 percent of children with start gender dysphoria will naturally grow out of it by the time they reach puberty.

While conservatives and state-level politicians have lauded the finding, critics argue that policymakers are misusing the data, and the study’s lead author has admitted that the finding was not the study’s primary focus and does not provide a basis for calculating the percentage of children whose gender dysphoria persists into adulthood. Still, other research has found that a gender dysphoria diagnosis does not remain in many people throughout adulthood.

While more research into the possible link between gender dysphoria and other mental health issues is needed, Richards believes that instead of encouraging children to transition, parents and therapists should focus on treating other psychological conditions that may be present in children with gender dysphoria.