Wednesday 1 June 2022 06:07 PM Outrage as Royal College says it regrets cancelling drag queen show for TODDLERS trends now
Royal College of Nursing chief executive Pat Cullen, pictured here at a pay demonstration in Northern Ireland in early 2020
The boss of the UK's biggest nursing union has said she regrets cancelling a controversial drag queen event aimed at children — with the organisation planning to move it to another date.
MailOnline revealed earlier this month the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) was hosting a 'drag story time' for toddlers and children under the age of seven during Pride week.
The event provoked fury online, with some union members angry about their membership fees being used this way.
Other members of the public were concerned that an act traditionally associated with adult entertainment was being performed for children.
The backlash led to event, scheduled to start next week, being cancelled.
But in a statement to the union's 465,000 members last night, RCN boss Pat Cullen said officials had 'made a regrettable misstep' in cancelling the event.
The CLIP Theatre's Drag Storytime was going to be held on June 11 at the union's London headquarters as part of the RCN's celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride month.
Children would have participated in a 'splendidly silly, super-camp storytime' with 'one of London’s finest drag artists' featuring 'interactivity, live music, silly props and sensory fun'.
However, a union spokesperson has confirmed to MailOnline that the event will still be held on another date that has yet to be confirmed.
Ms Cullen's latest statement provoked outrage from some nurses, who said she failed to address their concerns they had about the event and the abuse they themselves had received from people supporting it.
The original tweet from the Royal College of Nursing promoting the story time with a drag queen which attracted backlash on social media
Some nurses slammed Ms Cullen's statement, saying it failed to address the slurs directed at women concerned about the event
In her statement, published on the RCN website, Ms Cullen acknowledged that by both initially organising and then cancelling the event the union had provoked questions from nurses.
'By arranging and then calling off a
