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Drag The Kids To Pride controversy depicting an image of children at a drag show in texas.

Drag The Kids To Pride

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Updated Jun 08, 2022 at 02:55PM EDT by Zach.

Added Jun 08, 2022 at 12:01PM EDT by Phillip Hamilton.

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About

Drag The Kids To Pride is a child-friendly drag show event held during Pride Month at the gay club Mr. Misster on June 4th, 2022, in Dallas, Texas. The event was widely criticized online for purportedly sexualizing children and exposing them to an inappropriate, potentially harmful environment, as well as some alleging it was an attempt to "indoctrinate kids" into the LGBTQ+ community or groom them. On the day of the event, several viral videos and photos from it were uploaded to social media, including images of a neon sign reading "it's not gonna lick itself" over the runway, videos of children walking with the drag queens and videos of drag queens taking money from kids. A protest was also held in front of the club as the event happened.

The event became a talking point, particularly among conservatives, that month, inspiring one Texas lawmaker to propose a bill making it illegal to hold a drag show if children are present. The viral debate also spread to other contentious drag-related Pride Month events elsewhere in the U.S.

History

On June 4th, 2022, Mr. Misster, a gay club in Dallas, Texas, held an event called "Drag Your Kids To Pride." The occasion, which was advertised as a family-friendly event, saw adult drag queens walk and perform on a runway to an audience of both adults and their children. Twitter user @TaylerUSA tweeted numerous clips and images from the event the day it happened. That morning, he tweeted[1] photographs of the neon sign above the runway reading "it's not gonna lick itself," which later became a prominent topic of the debate (shown below).


... Tayler Hansen @TaylerUSA A "child friendly" drag show is being hosted today in Dallas, TX at a gay bar. Here are two of the signs on display. IT'S NOT I LICKED IT SO GONNA LICK ITSELF IT'S MINE 9:42 AM Jun 4, 2022 Twitter for iPhone

A few hours later, @TaylerUSA tweeted[2] a video of protestors asking parents outside the event why they were attending, gaining over 16,000 likes in four days. Shortly after, he tweeted[3] a video of parents having their kids hand a drag queen money. That afternoon, he tweeted[4] a video of several kids playing musical chairs for the audience, and then tweeted[5] a video of children walking the runway with the drag queens (shown below).


At 2:07 p.m. EST that day, @TaylerUSA tweeted[6] footage of a protestor and attendee getting in a fight outside the club, gaining over 17,000 likes in four days (shown below). Several hours later, he then tweeted[7] a video of protestors chanting "Christ is king" outside the event.


Reactions

The event was widely reported on by the media in the days following, including stories from Fox News[11] and the Daily Mail.[12] It also sparked a contentious viral debate on social media. For example, on June 5th, 2022, Twitter[8] user @alexstein99 posted, "'Drag Your Kid to Pride' was the most evil event I have ever seen in my entire life….We as a society need to stand up and stop the sexualization of our children now before its too late!" along with a video from the event, gaining over 5,700 likes in three days (shown below).


Rep. Bryan Slaton's Bill To Ban Child Drag Shows

On June 6th, 2022, Republican Texas House of Representatives member Bryan Slaton tweeted[9] an image of a proposed bill that would make it illegal to hold drag shows with children present. In the tweet, he wrote, "Drag shows are no place for a child. I would never take my children to a drag show and I know Speaker Dade Phelan and my Republican colleagues wouldn’t either. I will be filing legislation to address this issue in the new #txlege." The tweet then inspired additional heated debates among users online in the following days.


SAL OF MARKE TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BRYAN SLATON District 2 For Immediate Release Monday, June 6, 2022 Contact: Andrew McVeigh andrew.meveigh@house.texas.gov Rep. Slaton Says He will File a Bill to Ban Drag Shows in the Presence of Minors in Texas This comes days after a drag show in Dallas allowed children to participate GREENVILLE, TEXAS - Following several news stories and videos over the weekend in which underage Texas children were subjected to inappropriate sexual content by adults, State Representative Bryan Slaton announced he plans to file legislation protecting kids from drag shows and other inappropriate displays as soon as the next legislative session begins. Representative Slaton issued the following statement: "The events of this past weekend were horrifying and show a disturbing trend in which perverted adults are obsessed with sexualizing young children. As a father of two young children, I would never take my children to a drag show and I know Speaker Dade Phelan and the rest of my Republican colleagues wouldn't either. Protecting our own children isn't enough, and our responsibility as lawmakers extends to the sexualization that is happening across Texas." Representative Slaton has already announced that he will continue his fight to make sex change therapies on minors "child abuse." Similar legislation was killed by Republicans in the Texas House in 2021. Representative Slaton further added: "I promised my voters that I would stand up for their values and fight to protect Texas kids. I was re-elected on that promise and I intend to keep it by authoring legislation to defend kids from being subjected to drag shows and other inappropriate events. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this important legislation." Representative Bryan Slaton is a strong conservative, a proud East Texan, a former Pastor for 13 years, and a small business owner. He currently represents Texas House District 2 which includes Hunt, Hopkins and Van Zandt Counties. More information about Bryan Slaton can be found at https://bryanslaton.com/ Capitol: P.O. Box 2910 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78768-1910 phone (312) 463-0880 District: 3101 Jox RAMSEY BLVD., STE. 101 GREENVILLE, TEXAS 75401 phone (903) 454-5443 BRYAN-SLATON@HOUSE.TEXAS.COV

Tucker Carlson Segment

On June 7th, 2022, conservative talk radio host Jason Rantz appeared on Fox News to speak with Tucker Carlson about the event. He tweeted[10] the video later that day, gaining over 370 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below).


Politician Reactions, Libs of TikTok Coverage and Additional Pride Month Event Controversies

As videos and images from the Drag The Kids To Pride event continued spreading online in the days after June 4th, 2022, prominent conservative accounts and politicians began criticizing the show and others like it as the controversy widened. For example, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted[14] her take on the controversy on June 5th, writing, "It should be illegal to take children into Drag Queen shows and strip clubs …" and receiving over 27,800 likes and 5,600 retweets in three days.

The Libs of TikTok Twitter account tweeted several images and videos of various events it perceived as problematic over the course of the following week. On June 7th, Libs of TikTok[14] tweeted a video of a child dancing and taking money dressed in drag, purportedly during an event in May at Hamburger Marys in Hollywood, California, that received over 8,500 likes, 2,700 retweets and 1,200 quote retweets in 26 hours, sparking additional debate in its replies (seen below).


Discussions about the growing controversy between drag and conservatives also spread to Reddit's /r/OutOfTheLoop[15] subreddit on June 7th, accumulating over 1,500 upvotes and 1,000 comments in 23 hours.

Search Interest

External References

[1] Twitter – Here are two of the signs on display.

[2] Twitter – TaylerUSA

[3] Twitter – TaylerUSA

[4] Twitter – TaylerUSA

[5] Twitter – TaylerUSA

[6] Twitter – TaylerUSA

[7] Twitter – TaylerUSA

[8] Twitter – alexstein99

[9] Twitter – Bryan Slaton

[10] Twitter – jasonrantz

[11] Fox News – Texas legislator to introduce bill banning children

[12] Daily Mail – event in Dallas where children take to the stage to dance with drag queens

[13] Twitter – libsoftiktok

[14] Twitter – RepMTG

[15] Reddit – r/OutOfTheLoop

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Top Comments

Shadow of the Void
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Shadow of the Void

Add an amendment to the law prohibiting anyone under the age of 16 from entering Hooters or any other breastaurant. If we're going to pass laws prohibiting kids from being around public accommodations that are by their nature sexually suggestive, let's be consistent and not discriminate on the basis of whether the people wearing sexualized clothing are male or female, or if the clothing is gender-conforming, or whatever. I'd argue that, sure, an 8-year-old might be too young to be at a drag show, but they're also too young to be eating somewhere where the waitresses have their titties about to flop out of their skimpy tops.

Consistency is all I'm asking for.

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