New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, is taking a step back from prosecuting and litigating this weekend in order to host a “drag queen story hour” for New York City tots in the ultra-liberal West Village.

Sponsored by a nonprofit, Drag Story Hour NYC, and the New York Public Library, the event will feature drag queens reading books and telling stories.

“My office is proud to host a Drag Story Hour read-a-thon,” Ms. James wrote in an Instagram post promoting the event. 

The participation of an influential elected politician such as Ms. James comes as drag events — billed as family-friendly — find their way to the center of the culture wars.

In a contrast to New York politicians’ embrace of “drag queen story hours,” Republican leaders in conservative states have sought to prosecute those who promote what they see as a form of sexual grooming of children. Democrats argue such claims are rooted in anti-gay and anti-transgender bigotry.

The popularization of drag events in libraries and schools — often paid for with taxpayer dollars — has led to families not only exposing their children to story hours but more risqué events featuring drag queens. A viral video earlier this month showed a young girl emulating a drag dancer at such an event.

“It just seems like there’s a concerted effort to be exposing kids more and more to things that are not age appropriate,” Governor DeSantis of Florida said in June.

Mr. DeSantis has since threatened the liquor licenses of several Florida venues that have held drag events with children present — even stripping Orlando’s Plaza Live of its license. 

He has also considered the possibility of interventions from child protective services for families who attend drag events.

While Mr. DeSantis leads the brigade, others are not far behind. A recent Tennessee law bans “adult-oriented performances” with “male or female impersonators” from public spaces and places where minors could be present.

Governor Sanders of Arkansas has introduced legislation that would similarly reclassify drag events as “adult-oriented performances” and end the practice of drag story hour.

In 2019, a conservative commentator, Sohrab Ahmari, was the first prominent figure to call drag queen story hour into question with a tweet, terming it “demonic” and calling for an end to “liberal order.”

“If you can’t see why children belong nowhere near drag, with its currents of transvestic fetishism, we have nothing to say to each other,” Mr. Ahmari wrote then. “We are irreconcilably opposed.”

Meanwhile, on Sunday, as children mingle with Ms. James and her drag queen friends, the woman behind the anti-woke Libs of TikTok account, Chaya Raichik, is hosting a “family friendly” story hour uptown at the Women’s National Republican Club. 

Ms. Raichik will be promoting her recently published children’s book, “No More Secrets,” about spotting sexual grooming in the classroom.