Florida Governor Ron Desantis is considering ordering the state’s child protective services agency look into parents who take their kids to drag shows.
This comes after video surfaced of minors attending the “Drag the Kids to Pride Drag Show” at Mr. Misster gay nightclub in Dallas last Saturday.
“We have child protective statutes on the books,” the governor said Wednesday in response to reporters who asked if he’d support proposed legislation from a state representative that would punish parents who brought their children to drag shows. “We have laws against child endangerment.”
“It used to be kids would be off-limits. Used to be everybody agreed with that,” DeSantis continued. “Now it just seems like there’s a concerted effort to be exposing kids more and more to things that are not age appropriate.”
The Dallas event was advertised as a “family-friendly spin-off” of the bar’s “Champagne Drag Brunch” show. The organizers said it was meant to promote inclusion and fun. It also was a fundraiser for a local LGBTQ+ youth support group, CBS News reports.
Just this week, Texas lawmaker Bryan Slaton announced he would introduce legislation that will ban minors from drag shows after learning about the event.
