Protesters gathered outside a drag show in Missouri Wednesday night after a Republican mayor ordered the venue to ban children from attending.
Chesterfield Mayor Bob Nation said he asked the venue to change the age requirements for “A Drag Queen Christmas,” a popular show starring reality TV series contestants. RuPaul’s Drag Race.
“We have ordinances specifically in the city of Chesterfield. We protect minors and do not allow minors to be exposed to certain forms of entertainment with a sexual orientation etc,” Nation told KMOV, a CBS news outlet.
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The venue, The Factory, reportedly changed its website Monday afternoon to indicate that Wednesday’s show was over 18s only due to “mature content”. St. Louis Postal Service reported.
It came after Senator Bill Eigel, a Republican, sent Nation a letter saying the event could violate state and local statues designed to protect minors from pornographic material.
However, Nation noted that some in the community were unhappy with the change in age requirements. “They think we should move on and either stop the show from going on, or check IDs when people come in, or worse, stop the show,” he said.
The show went ahead despite both protesters and counter-protesters gathering outside the venue on Wednesday night, Fox 2 reported.
Some protesters carried signs reading “Not in Missouri” and “Save our children,” the station said, while LGBTQ advocates waved rainbow flags and chanted, “Hatred must go.”
Some lawmakers have shared concerns that the show is inappropriate for children, while others said the backlash was part of wider right-wing attacks on the LGBTQ community.
State Representative Ben Baker, also a Republican, tweeted Wednesday that he had introduced a bill that would ban “drag queen” events.
“There is no such thing as a family-friendly ‘Drag Queen’ event,” Baker wrote. “As a father of 4 daughters, I am very concerned about what is allowed in public areas accessible to minors.”
Missouri State Representative Adam Schnelting, a Republican, said the same show’s content in other states “depicts sexual acts and innuendo and is inappropriate for children.”
He wrote on Facebook, “This is not an ‘all ages’ show. The intentional and explicit stealing of children’s innocence is unacceptable.”
Rep. Keri Ingle of Missouri, a Democrat, tweeted that the “right-wing attacks on the LGBT community have led directly to hate crimes,” including mass shootings.
Armed protesters recently gathered to protest a drag show in Texas following conservative attacks on the events.
Meanwhile, in a terror bulletin in late November, the Department of Homeland Security warned of potential threats to the LGBTQ community, saying: deadly threat.”
News week has reached out to Nation’s office, The Factory and the show’s promoter for further comment.
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