Activists who recently attended a New York City drag parade chanted, “We’re coming for your children.”
“We’re here, we’re queer, we’re coming for your children,” the activists shouted while marching. The activists convened at Tompkins Square Park before making their way through East Village and stopping at Stonewall Inn, the site of a police raid that prompted violent protests in 1969.
NYC Drag Marchers chant “we’re here, we’re queer, we’re coming for your children” https://t.co/ucK1qM4fv5 pic.twitter.com/OhBguhWwZY
— Timcast News (@TimcastNews) June 24, 2023
Other event videos show protesters with signs reading, “Groom Cissies,” and “Drag isn’t for Cissies.”
As concern over drag events marketed towards children increase, several states are taking action to prevent minors from attending such shows. In May 2023, Montana became the first state to prohibit drag shows from public spaces and being performed in front of children.
“Fortunately, here in Montana, we have a governor who recognizes that drag performers shouldn’t be reading books and grooming children at locations and facilities that receive public funding,” the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Mitchel Braxton (R), said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation in May 2023 punishing businesses that host drag shows with children present. The “Protection of Children” law allows the state’s government to fine, suspend, or revoke the licenses of businesses violating the law.
“Adult entertainment, people can do what they want with some of that, but to have minors there, I mean you’ll have situations where you’ll have an 8-year-old girl there where you have these really explicit shows and that is just inappropriate,” DeSantis said during a press conference before signing the bill.
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) filed a complaint concerning reports that children were seen attending an inappropriate Christmas-themed Orlando drag show in December 2022. DeSantis’s administration is moving to revoke the venue’s license over the alleged violation.
Drag shows “are enough to sand any normal parent’s hair on end,” according to PJ Media,
Legislation banning or restricting “transgender” surgeries on kids or drag performances in front of children is always deemed “anti-LGBT.” In April 2023, organizers canceled a Florida Pride parade after legislation was passed banning kids from attending drag shows. The Pride parade had nothing to do with children and yet was canceled.
“How is that not a tacit admission that one of the main purposes of the LGBTQ Pride parade was grooming children,” PJ Media said. “We need to call these groomers out for what they are. They say they’re coming for our kids — and sadly, terrifyingly, they’re not joking.”
