{"id":1682577,"date":"2022-10-11T03:32:56","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T07:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1682577"},"modified":"2022-10-11T03:34:54","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T07:34:54","slug":"how-small-town-leadership-can-put-drag-shows-aimed-at-children-on-notice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-small-town-leadership-can-put-drag-shows-aimed-at-children-on-notice\/","title":{"rendered":"How Small-Town Leadership Can Put Drag Shows Aimed At Children On Notice"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-small-town-leadership-can-put-drag-shows-aimed-at-children-on-notice%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1682577&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>Activities branded as \u201cinclusive\u201d and \u201ckid-friendly\u201d that feature provocatively clad cross-dressers and sexualized performances aren\u2019t just a creature of left-wing enclaves. Drag queen story hours and other events that target children with the sexual agendas of their organizers have made their way into small-town America. <\/p>\n<p>Ocala, Florida, a city that\u2019s home to about 60,000 people in a county that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.votemarion.gov\/ArchivedResults\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voted<\/a> 62 percent for Trump in 2020, hosted a \u201cPride Fest\u201d on Saturday with advertised \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OcalaPrideInc\/posts\/pfbid02jtHW8bwejDgpMkSBcCmyA5eTDktAZXgC7k6sqNYEkdb9bxNBno6oPBoPomvF1rqMl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">burlesque<\/a>\u201d performances from at least <a href=\"https:\/\/prideocala.com\/pride-fest-2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">half a dozen<\/a> drag queens. A Facebook post specifically describing the performances as \u201ckid friendly\u201d was apparently edited after a commenter questioned how a burlesque show could possibly be appropriate for kids, but another post insisted that \u201call [Pride] events are family friendly unless otherwise stated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Facebook <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OcalaPrideInc\/posts\/pfbid0gN4jVn3fU9rAi9qtK2MKFjDih2E3fdf7HgHs1BCn64tg1K9eoCoFHUHTBLPP3bs3l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">photos<\/a> from the annual event in 2019 show children watching a drag performer on stage and dancing with a drag queen. One of the directors of Ocala Pride Inc., the group putting on the event, wrote in her <a href=\"https:\/\/prideocala.com\/meet-our-directors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bio<\/a> that \u201cI\u2019m 23. I am a K5 teacher. I Love to work with children.\u201d A few of the featured drag performers\u2019 Instagram pages feature photos and videos of themselves <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/saphira_beayatch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">performing<\/a> lap dances on patrons, groping another person\u2019s sexual organs and being groped in return, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/miss.eleanora.diamond\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">collecting<\/a> money from children while performing, and posing with exposed breasts to advertise condoms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s no place a child should go, no parent should take their child to that,\u201d Ocala Mayor Kent Guinn told The Federalist, discussing Saturday\u2019s event. \u201cObviously I don\u2019t support those events being with children around them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But even conservative city leadership has limited authority to deny event permits on city property based on the tawdry nature of the event. Ocala Councilman Jay Musleh explained to The Federalist that \u201cwhether the activities are suitable for children is not a consideration unless a city ordinance or regulation might be violated,\u201d since the application for holding an event on city property \u201cdoes not ask for opinions about the nature of activities and performances.\u201d As Guinn noted, \u201cpeople have a right to free speech and also have a right to assemble.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The First Amendment protects \u201cPride\u201d gatherings and rallies, just as it does assemblies of pro-traditional-marriage Christians. But there\u2019s a fine line between free speech and subjecting children to lewd and indecent performances and behavior. So how can small-town leaders decisively put drag show organizers on notice that, while the former is welcomed, they have no tolerance for the latter?<\/p>\n<h2>1. Instruct Police to Enforce Public Indecency Laws<\/h2>\n<p>There are laws indicating where \u201cfree speech\u201d ends and obscene behavior begins. In Florida, for example, state statutes <a href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/codes\/florida\/2021\/title-xlvi\/chapter-847\/section-847-011\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">designate<\/a>, \u201cAny person who knowingly promotes, conducts, performs, or participates in an obscene show, exhibition, or performance by live persons or a live person before an audience\u201d as guilty of a misdemeanor. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout any hesitation, if anybody\u00a0does\u00a0anything that\u2019s illegal as far as indecent exposure to violate the law, they\u2019ll be put in handcuffs to go to jail,\u201d Guinn told The Federalist in the days leading up to Saturday\u2019s event in Ocala. \u201cI\u2019ve already talked to my chief about that.\u201d Local leadership can limit public instances of indecent performances, nudity, and the like by clearly articulating ahead of time that illegal obscene acts will not be tolerated.<\/p>\n<p>Governments can also use appropriate regulatory power to restrict minors\u2019 access to obscene performances in business establishments. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation under Gov. Ron DeSantis has used its authority to file <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/07\/26\/exclusive-ron-desantis-florida-files-complaint-against-bar-that-held-lewd-drag-show-for-kids\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">complaints<\/a> \u2014 which could cost establishments their liquor licenses \u2014 against places such as the R House Bar in Miami, which drew ire after videos surfaced of a topless drag queen interacting with a toddler.<\/p>\n<h2>2. Use Social Media to Notify Parents of Undesirable Public Events<\/h2>\n<p>Many parents, especially in more conservative locales, don\u2019t want to take their families downtown for lunch only to stumble upon a drag performance in the town square. Local leaders should use social media \u2014 their personal accounts if not city channels \u2014 to inform their constituents both that the First Amendment protects speech and assembly even if city leadership does not endorse it, and also that parents should exercise their discretion and authority in choosing whether to take their children to events many might find inappropriate. <\/p>\n<h2>3. Refuse to Actively Sponsor Events <\/h2>\n<p>Local leadership can respect the First Amendment use of public spaces by people with a variety of views without explicitly endorsing or furthering activities that impose a sexual agenda on children. Library leaders shouldn\u2019t go out of their way to solicit and facilitate \u201cdrag queen story hours\u201d for children, as they did in \u201cRepublican-leaning Saint Louis suburbs\u201d this past summer, revealed by <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/31\/so-excited-emails-show-local-librarians-recruiting-drag-performers-for-kids\/\">reporting<\/a> from The Federalist\u2019s Joy Pullmann. Even if public-use facilities such as libraries can\u2019t deny the use of private meeting rooms to qualifying groups, they can avoid endorsing such events or using library channels to promote them.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, local school boards should refuse to use taxpayer-funded, government-affiliated public schools as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2022\/jun\/3\/dc-public-schools-host-drag-queen-performance-high\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">platforms<\/a> for drag shows and story hours. <\/p>\n<p>If adults want to act out their sexual confusion in front of minors, no government entity should be sponsoring it. Private businesses and corporations might choose to welcome such performances into their establishments; in Ocala, that\u2019s exactly what <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/716388296131881\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Starbucks<\/a> has done. But such businesses may risk angering potential customers in the process, as well as risk opening themselves up to regulatory complaints if performances violate the law.<\/p>\n<h2>4. Welcome Constituents to Make Their Voices Heard<\/h2>\n<p>One of the most basic things local leaders can do is remind all their constituents, including those who oppose exposing children to sexualized performances, to use their freedoms of speech and assembly. Just as \u201cPride Fest\u201d organizers are free to exercise their rights on the downtown square, so others are free to peacefully protest the event, stand on the sidewalk giving passers-by with children a \u201cheads up,\u201d or organize their own gatherings. <\/p>\n<p>The public square is just that \u2014 public \u2014 but that doesn\u2019t mean it has to be ceded to gross uses only. Nor does that mean local leaders can\u2019t both honor the First Amendment while also refusing to permit or even endorse lewdness that exposes children to inappropriate sexual behavior.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Elle Purnell is an assistant editor at The Federalist, and received her B.A. in government from Patrick Henry College with a minor in journalism. Follow her work on Twitter @_etreynolds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Activities branded as \u201cinclusive\u201d and \u201ckid-friendly\u201d that feature provocatively clad cross-dressers and sexualized performances aren\u2019t just a creature of left-wing enclaves. Drag queen story hours and other events that target<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1353,"featured_media":1682579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1682577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1682577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1682579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1682577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1682577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1682577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}