The Rainbow Mafia is following a tried-and-true leftist tactic in its war on American culture by going after the young and impressionable. And it has found some willing allies in the fight.

Just last week, Democrat presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren declared that she would only nominate a secretary of education who was prescreened by a “young transgender person” to demonstrate that the nominee could create a “welcoming environment, a safe environment, and a full educational curriculum for everyone.” This was in response to a question about how she would address the lack of “LGBT” history and sex education in public schools.

In other words, a presidential candidate has just admitted she is going to turn to a minor who suffers from gender dysphoria — and child abuse at the hands of his or her parents — for advice in filling one of her cabinet positions. Warren also pledged recently that she would fill half her cabinet with women and “non-binary people.” So much for choosing someone based on qualifications. Then again, if the Democrat primary process keeps going in the direction it has been recently, Warren won’t have to worry about choosing any cabinet members.

Also on the side of the Rainbow Mafia is the American Library Association (ALA), which has thrown its full support behind the so-called Drag Queen Story Hour. This initiative is specifically designed to expose young children to the LGBT lifestyle and indoctrinate them to the leftist worldview.

Drag Queen Story Hour, which is exactly what it sounds like, began in San Francisco in 2015. It features men dressed up in bawdy female attire reading stories in libraries to children ages 3-8. The stories frequently feature gender-confused characters and are supposedly designed to explore “gender fluidity” through “unabashedly queer role models.”

The ALA fully supports the program and is encouraging its spread through its nationwide network. A spokeswoman stated that the ALA “strongly supports the rights of libraries to host whatever programming they decide fits the needs and interests of their communities.” Unless, of course, that program doesn’t comport to woke social standards, in which case, gird your loins for battle.

Exposing children at that young age to quack concepts like “gender fluidity” in a highly sexualized setting is nothing short of child abuse, and parents in several communities are fighting back. The ALA and the groups that have supported Drag Queen Story Hour have pushed the narrative that it has grown organically and is in demand around the country. Nothing could be further from the truth. The story hours have been backed by corporate and ALA funding to launch pilot events in libraries around the country, not at the request of local communities as they frequently claim. It is coordinated and well funded.

The good news is that pushing back works. The Family Policy Alliance and the Child Protection League have helped organize protests in several cities and several public libraries and bookstores have been forced to cancel events that aim to sexualize and indoctrinate young children. Parents need to know what is being taught to their children, because there is a concerted leftist effort to use these programs to split up families and convert children into the next generation of useful idiots. Don’t let it happen.

But just as a reminder: Whoever wins the presidential election in November will choose the next secretary of education. That’s not story time; it’s time for action.