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Here’s the thing about drag shows: We don’t deny that they have a rich history. That rich history traditionally took place in gay nightclubs, not elementary school libraries. Recent headlines about disruptions of drag events (we haven’t seen any disrupted) concern such things as “all-ages” or “family-friendly” drag shows that encourage participation from not just minors, but little kids. Here’s Christopher Rufo from today:
It says right on the poster, “all ages.”
That’s just the kind of portrayal of drag as sexual and harmful to children that PBS NewsHour says overlooks the art form:
The Associated Press’ Jeff McMillan provides this analysis:
Lately, drag has been dragged through the mud.
The art form has been cast in a false light in recent months by right-wing activists and politicians who complain about the “sexualization” or “grooming” of children. Opponents often coordinate protests at drag events that feature or cater to children, sometimes showing up with guns. Some politicians have proposed banning children from drag events and even criminally charging parents who take their kids to one.
Performers and organizers of events, such as story hours in which colorfully clad drag queens read books to children, say the protesters are the ones terrorizing and harming children by making them political pawns — just as they’ve done in other campaigns around bathroom access and educational materials.
In our experience, we’ve only seen one drag event in Texas in which people brought guns, and it was Antifa with their AR-15s who were on “guard duty” to protect the drag performance. It’s funny the gun control crowd didn’t make a national issue of citizens bringing assault rifles to a family event.
That’s quite a deep analysis. Remember that name: Jeff McMillan.
Exactly: All those right-wingers are asking is that the art form be kept in an adults-only environment.
As someone said above, we’ve gone from “it’s not happening” to “it’s happening and that’s actually a good thing.” It’s important to expose your kindergartener to a man doing a hypersexualized parody of women because …
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