Amgen Inc., a biotechnology company based in Thousand Oaks, “shocked” employees by hosting a “Drag Queen Story Hour” on its campus for children ages 3 to 11 years old on Friday, June 16, during work hours.
“Drag Queen Story Hour is a voluntary event where a drag queen named Cooper will read a few stories to Amgen staff and their families and then lead a sing along and craft activity,” Amgen’s Megan Fox told the Guardian by email. She leads the company’s community and media relations for the Southern California region. “We view this event as an opportunity during Pride month to help foster a community of inclusion and belonging, and as an opportunity for Amgen staff to celebrate diversity.”
Some employees felt differently.
“Why is Amgen hosting such an event on campus in the first place? How many people agreed this was an acceptable event? Why are they mixing personal life choices with work?” one anonymous Amgen employee told the Guardian. “This seems morally wrong and a bad idea all around.”
The invitation to the event announced, “Drag Queen Story Hour with Cooper the Drag Queen.” It read: “Join Amgen PRIDE ATO in welcoming Cooper the Drag Queen to Amgen to read two stories and do an activity with our Amgen ERG children – ALL ages welcome — with topics of diversity and inclusion! Refreshments will be served onsite and we will be live-streaming via webinar to allow for a larger audience to have access to such a fabulous event.”
The invitation noted that “Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH), Drag Queen Storytime, Drag Story Time, and Drag Story Hour are children’s events … usually geared for children aged 3-11.”
It acknowledged that “Some see the concept as unconventional” since ”the queens usually host nightlife events rather than leading sing-alongs.”
“It is incredibly inappropriate for a major corporation to host this kind of event, especially since it’s geared for young children.”
The “children’s” event, held on an Amgen patio, drew about 40 people in person, only around ten of them children. Of the adults, women far outnumbered men.
The performer, “Cooper the Drag Queen,” is Earnest Cooper, Jr., an undergraduate student advisor at U.C. Santa Barbara whose Instagram posts promote a “Make It Nasty Erotic Art Show” plus a “youth group” promoting homosexuality and gender dysphoria to children in Ventura County. His YouTube channel features Cooper in a clip titled, “Strippercise done right!!”
Cooper also was involved in a “Pride Prom” in June, writing on Instagram, “Do it for the children!!! More than ever we need to support our LGBTQ+ young people. Join my band of merry misfits as we … help put on the best d*** Pride Prom EVER!!!” According to his LinkedIn page, Cooper has been employed at UCSB since 2019 and regularly performs with a cross-dressing man whose stage name is “Babie Blue Delusional.” Cooper did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
Wearing a black-and-red dress, a wig and a tiara, Earnest Cooper, Jr., read books to the Amgen gathering including, What Riley Wore, a picture book with a “spectacularly nongendered protagonist” and “gender-fluid ensembles,” according to Kirkus Reviews, a leading book reviewer.
The book “beautifully normalizes the multifaceted gender expressions people can have, demonstrates the support adults can provide to nonbinary children, and models how easily young ones can relate to one another without having to choose between two gender options,” according to Kirkus. The “entertaining tale speaks volumes about the creativity of nonbinary kids. Riley’s courageous vulnerability is refreshing, fun, and worthy of celebration.”
Amgen has embraced a number of left-leaning causes, and in 2023 won industry awards for “America’s Greatest Workplaces For Diversity,” “America’s Climate Leaders,” and “Best Workplaces in Greater China,” according to the company’s website.
One employee who met with the Guardian pointed out that more than 14 percent of Amgen shares are owned by BlackRock Fund Advisors and The Vanguard Group, which demand that corporations rack up “points” on the George Soros-funded Human Rights Campaign’s “Corporate Equality Index.” This index awards points for aggressively promoting homosexual and transgender agendas in the workplace. (See related story on the Human Rights Campaign’s exact 2023 guidelines and point scale.)
“Cooper the Drag Queen” is Earnest Cooper, Jr., an undergraduate student advisor at U.C. Santa Barbara. His YouTube channel features Cooper in a clip titled, “Strippercise done right!!”
Amgen, which employs 24,000 employees worldwide and just over 5,000 in Thousand Oaks after two rounds of layoffs this year, calls itself “a values-based company” — but employees say they are “shocked” by the biotech giant’s promotion of cross-dressing entertainers to pre-adolescent children.
“[I] am greatly disappointed by their decision to host a ‘cool/trendy’ event in the so-called name of ‘inclusion,’” said a self-identified Amgen employee. “It is incredibly inappropriate for a major corporation to host this kind of event, especially since it’s geared for young children. If they want to host a drag event on campus for the adults, fine, but leave the kids out of it!”
