{"id":1785803,"date":"2022-12-24T09:48:16","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T14:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1785803"},"modified":"2022-12-24T09:48:20","modified_gmt":"2022-12-24T14:48:20","slug":"taxpayer-funded-tennessee-performing-arts-center-hosted-all-ages-drag-christmas-show-as-republicans-propose-banning-similar-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/taxpayer-funded-tennessee-performing-arts-center-hosted-all-ages-drag-christmas-show-as-republicans-propose-banning-similar-events\/","title":{"rendered":"Taxpayer-Funded Tennessee Performing Arts Center Hosted \u2018All Ages\u2019 Drag Christmas Show As Republicans Propose Banning Similar Events"},"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\">34<\/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%2Ftaxpayer-funded-tennessee-performing-arts-center-hosted-all-ages-drag-christmas-show-as-republicans-propose-banning-similar-events%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=1785803&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--><p>A performing arts center in part funded by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/tennessee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tennessee<\/a> taxpayers hosted an \u201call ages\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/drag-queen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">drag show<\/a> last month as Republicans in the Volunteer State propose protecting children from \u201csexually explicit\u201d performances.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Over the Thanksgiving weekend, the James K. Polk Theatre, a part of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC), hosted a presentation of \u201cA Drag Queen Christmas,\u201d which was put on by Murray &#038; Peter Present. The event was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/1089887155253391\/?privacy_mutation_token=eyJ0eXBlIjowLCJjcmVhdGlvbl90aW1lIjoxNjY1MDY2MTEwLCJjYWxsc2l0ZV9pZCI6MzU5MDM2MDAxOTY4NDMyfQ%3D%3D&#038;acontext=%7B%22ref_newsfeed_story_type%22%3A%22regular%22%2C%22source%22%3A%223%22%2C%22feed_story_type%22%3A%22117%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D&#038;paipv=0&#038;eav=AfadIgM8uCHYhQqXWawe6fextPuknGpiMP_zWtWw4bEM5mUpeCPEQ4yZG-JOHE3v5rc&#038;_rdr\">advertised<\/a> on Facebook as open for \u201call ages.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The performance comes as State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson has<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/tennessee-gop-moves-to-protect-children-from-sexualized-drag-queen-events\"> introduced<\/a> legislation that would prohibit children from being exposed to sexually explicit drag and other performances<\/p>\n<p>Johnson told The Daily Wire his legislation might apply to the performance at TPAC depending on if the drag performance was sexually explicit or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we would all agree that some of the video we have seen recently of some of these drag shows that were quote-unquote family-friendly were anything but that. And If I had attended one of those with my kids I would have been mortified and I would have wanted someone to be prosecuted for engaging in that kind of entertainment in front of my kids,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He added that he was \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d that his legislation would pass in the upcoming legislative session.<\/p>\n<p>Jade Byers, a spokeswoman for Republican Governor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/bill-lee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bill Lee<\/a>, told The Daily Wire that \u201cThe Governor is grateful to Leader Johnson for his efforts on this important issue, and we look forward to working with the General Assembly to pass legislation that protects Tennessee children.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to program details, it was the eighth year that such a performance has been held at the venue. Video from performances of the Christmas drag show\u00a0 in other locations has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/video-all-ages-christmas-drag-show-sparks-outrage-children-being-groomed-adults\">emerged<\/a>\u00a0that appears to be explicit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>TPAC receives some funding through the Tennessee Arts Commission (TAC), a state government-sanctioned group to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tn.gov\/artscommission\/about-us.html\">invest<\/a> \u201cpublic dollars\u201d in projects that promote the state\u2019s cultural life.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The TAC is listed as a \u201chigh impact\u201d partner of TPAC. According to the TAC, money it designated in 2022 for TPAC went toward programs such as teacher training, afterschool programs, and theater performances for lifelong learners.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The TAC also designated about $1.9 million in federal money to TPAC over revenue loss due to the pandemic. The TAC did not comment on whether it was appropriate to send state funds to TPAC given its promotion and hosting of the drag Christmas show open to children.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A review of state <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tn.gov\/content\/dam\/tn\/finance\/budget\/documents\/2023BudgetDocumentVol1.pdf\">budgets<\/a> also shows that Tennessee allocates about $300,000 per year to TPAC, which TPAC says goes toward state \u201cfacilities in the Polk Cultural Center and the historic War Memorial Auditorium\u201d that it operates.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to Tony Marks, the vice president of marketing and communications for TPAC, the arts center has a \u201cstrong working relationship\u201d with the state of Tennessee. \u201cAs a result, we are aware of these concerns and will take them into consideration related to venue rental decisions going forward,\u201d Marks told The Daily Wire.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Murray &#038; Peter Present\u2019s drag Christmas show tour, which began in November, will conclude on December 29 after several performances in Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A performing arts center in part funded by Tennessee taxpayers hosted an \u201call ages\u201d drag show last month as Republicans in the Volunteer State propose protecting children from \u201csexually explicit\u201d performances.\u00a0 Over the Thanksgiving weekend, the James K. Polk Theatre, a part of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC), hosted a presentation of \u201cA Drag &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":1785806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[6962,8287,7589,10757,6492,5488,6922,6202,7069,7500,9346,7870,4978,3756,5830,5946,5953,6651,6195],"class_list":["post-1785803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire","tag-the","tag-ages","tag-all","tag-arts","tag-banning","tag-center","tag-christmas","tag-daily","tag-drag","tag-events","tag-hosted","tag-performing","tag-propose","tag-republicans","tag-show","tag-similar","tag-taxpayer-funded","tag-tennessee","tag-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1785803","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\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1785803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1785803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1785806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1785803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1785803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1785803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}