In case it hasn’t been shoved in your face enough, June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. The usual suspects continue to double down not only on the virtue signaling toward this community, but on forced diversity measures and programs to prove just how “with it” they are. The White House showed its rear end when one of its transgender guests at its Pride celebration inappropriately exposed his fake breasts, and another guest showed her top surgery (breast removal) scars. They degraded the White House and any credibility these activists might be trying to gain.
It is no longer enough to fly the Pride flag high in West Hollywood or San Francisco and let the rest of the state live and let live. Now conservative bastions, such as Ventura County, home to the Reagan Library must get in on the act or be considered transphobic.
From the Conejo Guardian:
“Shocked” employees have come forward to say that Amgen Inc., a biotechnology company based in Thousand Oaks, plans to host a “Drag Queen Story Hour” on its campus for children ages 3 to 11 years old on Friday, June 16, during work hours.
What parent in their right mind is supporting this? While the employee base at Amgen may well be diverse, the city of Thousand Oaks, the County of Ventura, and the Conejo Valley region where Thousand Oaks is domiciled lean conservative. The multitude of people who want to escape the leftist ideology, gun control craziness, and woke agendas but also prefer cooler weather, tend to move further north rather than to Riverside or San Bernardino counties which also lean conservative, but are in the much hotter Inland Empire.
But thanks to a manager in Amgen’s clinical program management department, the company gladly joined the ranks of WOKE corporations intent on building their DEI and ESG scores, while pissing off the community that has welcomed them in their midst.
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.
According to the Conejo Guardian, Amgen’s promotion of such an event is making their employees uncomfortable. Once again, you have a corporation that fails to read the room and bites the hand that feeds them.
“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.”
Ditto on both counts and thoroughly unnecessary. This is a biotech company, supposedly built around scientific discovery and better living through science. Injecting DEI measures that alienate a portion of your workforce only creates division and an unsafe work environment. But this probably is part of the intent.
An internal Amgen invitation provided to The Conejo Guardian announces, “Drag Queen Story Hour with Cooper the Drag Queen.” The invitation reads:
“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 notes 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 acknowledges that “Some see the concept as unconventional” since “the queens usually host nightlife events rather than leading sing-alongs.”
No, it is unconventional because you are choosing to incorporate children into what is an adult fetish/fantasy. These story hours, sing-alongs, or whatever they wish to dress them up as are the equivalent of taking your son to a Triple X Gentleman’s Club or your daughter to whatever version of Chippendales exists today. It is inappropriate, and in many other places tantamount to abuse. It is unconscionable that in the name of “diversity” and “inclusiveness,” Amgen feels as though it is perfectly fine allowing this philosophy to be paraded within a supposedly professional work environment.
The host of this event, Earnest Cooper, Jr., is a drag queen who performs under the name “Cooper the Drag Queen.” According to Conejo Guardian, Cooper is an undergraduate student advisor at the University of California Santa Barbara and has worked there since 2019 while performing drag shows with a partner. Cooper is deeply committed to promoting his lifestyle and encouraging others to participate in it–especially the children. One of his “youth groups” encourages those who suffer from gender dysphoria or struggle with same-sex attraction to explore this at one of his events. One of the videos on his YouTube channel features Cooper in a clip titled, “Strippercise done right!!”
You cannot make this stuff up.
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!”
What I just said.
The event is happening this Friday, June 16 during working hours. If you know of someone in the Thousand Oaks area, it might be a good idea to let them know about this event and Amgen’s agenda, which does not appear to be based on the same values as the community of Thousand Oaks. While Amgen is a private company and can choose to do as it pleases, taxpayer dollars do help to subsidize its campus within the Conejo Valley. Having a private party off campus where this happens is one thing. Promoting this event to a workplace and community that does not seem to welcome it is quite another.