The cultural phenomenon born in San Francisco that became a favorite piece of rage bait for conservative media, Drag Story Hour, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this weekend with a party at the main branch of the public library.

SFist first covered the controversy around Drag Story Hour, which began as Drag Queen Story Hour, in 2017, when the conservative National Review first caught wind of it. And what began as an innocent event in which local drag queens read story books to children at libraries suddenly set off a new minor battle in the culture wars that rages on to this day. That National Review headline, by the way, was "Tax Dollars Are Paying for Drag Queens to Read Stories to Children" — and that was, actually, inaccurate, because the event was paid for by programming grants given branch libraries, not by tax dollars.

Here in the Bay Area, we were also treated to a scary incident in which some Proud Boys members stormed a Drag Story Hour event at the San Lorenzo Library in the East Bay in June 2022, spewing hate and flashing white power signs. That incident was the subject of a short film that screened at this year's SFFILM festival.

Drag Story Hour was founded in 2015 by formerly local writer Michelle Tea (she's since relocated to New Orleans) and Radar Productions, with support from writers Julián Delgado Lopera and Virgie Tovar, and the first event at the Harvey Milk Memorial branch of the SFPL in the Castro featured newly crowned SF Drag Laureate Per Sia.

"A lot of amazing queer things have come out of San Francisco, Drag Story Hour being one of them," Per Sia tells KQED. "It’s still so important to not just highlight the program because, you know, literacy, children... but also [we] highlight queer joy and all the things that people say are wrong with us, which are not [wrong]."

Many supporters of the program have noted that drag is just an artform that celebrates dress-up, fantasy, and makeup, which are all things that kids tend to be excited by. And who wouldn't want to be read a story by someone in glitter and a wig?

After a vote at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, December 12 has been declared Drag Story Hour Day in San Francisco. Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said in a statement that the event "creates space for queer role models in children’s stories and teaches kids that authenticity and individuality should be celebrated."

On Sunday, December 14, the 10th anniversary of Drag Story Hour will be celebrated at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch, and it's a free event that runs from noon to 5 pm. Per Sia will be there, along with some of the original storytellers from the Bay Area's events, and drag queens from founding chapters around the country, including representatives from Indigenous Drag Story Hour, will be joining as well.

"Ten years ago, a spark of glitter and imagination lit up the San Francisco Public Library — and Drag Story Hour was born," says the event copy. "Now that spark returns home!"

Drag Story Hour has, in 10 years, become a global phenomenon, with 501(c)3 nonprofit status and 30 chapters around the world — including in Copenhagen, Berline, Perth, and Tokyo.

Related: SFFILM Festival Film Relives When ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ Got Invaded by the Proud Boys