This year, however, the pushback seems stronger and more diverse than in previous years. There was little public outcry beyond conservative circles.
Visceral outrage at sexualizing young kids is the right response-and there’s plenty of outrage online.īut as radio host and writer Michael Brown has pointed out, the spectacle of drag queens performing for kids (and their parents) has been common at Pride parades for almost two decades. In one video, a crowd of students cheers wildly as the performer-Twitter handle off his wig in the finale. This week, the Twitter account Libs of Tiktok alerted followers to a drag show at a San Francisco middle school. A bright pink neon sign saying “It’s Not Going to Lick Itself!” added an extra layer of creepiness.
Young children can be seen handing money to twerking drag queens. Last weekend, social media abounded with videos of a Pride event at a gay bar in Dallas called Drag the Kids to Pride. Now extended across the whole month of June, it looks more like an effort designed to do the opposite. “Pride” events started a few decades ago as an activist effort to push back against the stigma attached to homosexuality.
