Reuben Kaye Defends Drag Storytime, Jesus Joke

Drag performer Reuben Kaye was on Q&A on Monday night and spoke about the backlash from his Jesus joke and the rising hate on drag queen storytime.

An audience member asked the queer comedian whether he thought a straight person would receive the same backlash as he did if they told the joke. 

Q&A host Patricia Karvelas read out the joke, which got some laughs from the audience, before Kaye answered. Kaye stated that the joke “has been told by straight people.”

“Ricky Gervais devotes almost 90 per cent of his routine to tearing down religion, Dave Chappelle does it,” he said.

“Large, big name, straight comics do this all the time. This isn’t about the joke, this is about who was telling it.”

Back in February, Kaye has spoken on The Project about how he receives hate from the Christian community for his sexuality and for dressing in drag. 

He then joked that he loved “Jesus, I love any man who can get nailed for three days straight and come back for more.” The Project later issued an apology over the joke and Kaye postponed shows due to safety fears.

Kaye Defends Jesus Joke

Kaye went on to say that his joke was an act of defiance of homophobia and later clashed with National Senate leader Bridget McKenzie who said she was offended by the joke as “a person of faith.”

“It wasn’t just the Christian community that got offended, the Islamic community did as well although I guess Christians have been persecuted for over 2,000 years,” she said.

Reuben quipped back “Give it a break! You’re [sitting] next to a Jewish homosexual and you’re going to say Christians have been persecuted?”

McKenzie doubled down and said that she would’ve been “equally offended if anybody had said that joke.”

Drag Queen Storytime

The topic of drag queen storytime kicked off after an audience member asked Kaye why the performer thought drag had become a “dirty word.”

“Why is this happening now and are you and the drag community fearful for the future and for your own safety?” the man asked.

“First off, let’s define drag. Drag is wacking on a bit of make-up and a costume, it’s as simple as that,” Kaye said. 

He later on said that drag queen storytime was “simply a drag queen stepping into a library in a sparkly outfit, reading a story and singing some songs to kids.”

“Drag can span art forms as long as you like. It can be an adults-only club performance, it can be something as simple as this, and it’s necessary because drag queen story time does something important,” he said.

@reubenkaye Q&A on the ABC available to stream now #reubenkaye #dragqueenstorytime #qanda #abc #dragbans #lgbtqia #2slgbtqia+ #pride #queer #rainbowfamilies #londonpride ♬ original sound – ReubenKaye

“It opens kids’ eyes to a world that is diverse and reflective of reality, and it offers queer kids an opportunity to see themselves. If queer kids don’t see themselves represented in this world, how can they envision a future with them in it?”

McKenzie again interjected that the issue is based on parental choice.

“If society is choosing to have open-access drag queens reading at local libraries, then … it is your decision and your right as a parent to decide this is something I want my child to be involved in, or it is something that I don’t want my child to be involved in,” she said.

Kaye however fought back against McKenzie’s comments, reminding the senator about the crowds “assembling outside libraries” and how libraries and staff are “getting death threats.”

“Libraries and local councils are having to add security because people are trying to use this as a lightning rod issue, and they’re using children as a shield for their bigotry,” he said.