YouTube Kids defends content with drag children, discussions on consent and White privilege

An in-depth review of the YouTube Kids streaming site found a variety of content featuring drag queens and queer kids, as well as discussions about LGBTQ activism, intersectionality, and White privilege.

Fox News Digital found at least 120 videos focusing on gender and sexuality, much of which came from the "Queer Kids Stuff" page.

A YouTube spokesperson told Fox News Digital that their teams had reviewed the content in question and confirmed that it does not violate policies for inclusion on the app. 

"We have confirmed this content is appropriate for the YouTube Kids app, and our policies were developed with experts to allow children to learn about a broad variety of topics, including age-appropriate educational videos on sexual & gender identity," the spokesperson said.  "We know every family is different, which is why we offer a variety of options to help parents better control their experience, including the option to control what content their child can see."

According to YouTube, their policies allow for content that discusses some sexual orientation and other sexual education topics.

Parents must create accounts for their children, and once an account is created, the homepage features numerous videos on DIY crafts, video games, music videos, sports, entertainment, and pranks. However, the recommendations also included a video called "Kids Meet A Gender-Non-Confirming Person" and another titled "Kids Explain Pronouns."

The former video saw several young kids sit down and ask questions to an individual named Nanta. Some of the children said they did understand why they were sitting down for the video and initially had trouble understanding what "non-binary" meant.

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At one point, a young boy received pushback from Nanta when discussing what makes a boy a boy and a girl a girl. He said that what makes you male or female has to do with your chromosomes and said men used to hunt before civilized society because they were stronger.

"And think that’s where I’m kind of am like, ugh really? I’m strong, why can’t I be a hunter too?" Nanta said.

"Well, yeah, but like in terms of muscle mass, men have like—and I mean they probably weren’t thinking about [gender nonconformity]," the boy responded. 

The segment ended with everyone agreeing that gender doesn’t matter and the idea that a person is simply a person at the end of the day.

Another video focuses on consent. While the video does not explain what children are consenting to, it notes that it is about "giving permission to someone for something."

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Other videos found across the site saw hosts teachings about various gender identities, repeatedly using the alphabet to describe differences, like "I is for intersex, "B is for Bisexual," and "Learning our LGBTs."

Some videos include story time segments with hosts reading books like "A is for Activism" and "Transgender Cinderella."

Several of the videos delve into politics, including social movements and theories typically reserved for the high school or college level. 

A video posted in 2016 saw a person speaking directly to the camera addressing kids "scared" or confused" about Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.

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I want to tell you the truth," the person says. "Donald Trump can be a mean person. The grown-ups who voted for him, they can be mean too. And the truth is they probably will not stop being mean anytime soon."

In the video "Intro to Intersectionality," host Lindsay and her teddy bear claim that race and gender are two components of one’s identity and determine how they are perceived in the world.

"I have an advantage because I’m White, but I have a disadvantage because I’m queer," Lindsay says at one point of the video.

Later she discusses her friend Kira, who she says has two disadvantages because she is both a person of color and queer.

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In another video Lindsay sings about privilege and how White people have advantages in life.  

Other video titles include "LGTQ+ Representation in Kid’s Media is Important," "What is Race?" "How To Make Activist Pie," "What Is Transitioning?" and "Gender Explained for Kids."

In the video "Meet a Queer Kid," a talking teddy bear speaks with "Desmond is Amazing," who describes himself as an activist, a drag kid and a public figure.

Throughout the video, Desmond explains to the bear what drag is and admits that he started drag when he was just two years old.

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Several videos also include drag queens, such as the videos "It’s Okay to Be Gay Lip-sync," "Reading Julian Is A Mermaid with Drag Queen Story Hour," and "Drag Queen Makeup Transformation."

"Queer Kid Society," the group responsible for many of the videos about gender, sexuality and race on YouTube Kids, sued Google in 2019, alleging that the company discriminated against LGBTQ creators.

They claimed the algorithm unfairly demonetized videos about LGBTQ issues, restricted the purchase of advertisements, allowed homophobic reaction videos intended to mock their channel and hosted anti-LGBTQ ads to run ahead of their videos.

YouTube told Fox News Digital they have worked extensively with experts in online safety, content quality, mental health, trauma, childhood development and more to properly address new challenges facing youth. Through this collaboration, YouTube created quality principles to help guide kids and family creator’s and determine inclusion, recommendations, and monetization eligibility.

Ultimately, the content a child watches is up to their parent or guardian and the YouTube Kids app offers various parental controls, YouTube said. 

The parental controls include a new approved content feature that allows parents to pre-select every video and channel available to their kids.  Additionally, parents have the option to block a video or channel they feel is inappropriate.