On February 3, the State of Florida filed an administrative complaint against the operators of the Plaza Live theater in Orlando for hosting a drag show. According to the complaint, the drag show performed on December 28, 2022, at Plaza Live included "acts of sexual conduct, simulated sexual activity, and lewd, vulgar, and indecent displays" with children in attendance. The complaint alleges the show, "A Drag Queen Christmas," violated a Florida law that makes it a felony for a person to "commit a lewd or lascivious exhibition" in the presence of "a victim who is less than 16 years of age." The state, through the complaint, is seeking to revoke the venue's liquor license, which would likely put it out of business.
If the Florida Republicans are so concerned about children, then I would suggest they might make some changes that would really protect children: expand Medicaid (Florida is one of only eleven states that has not done so), make affordable housing available, increase the minimum wage, & improve public schools, among many other things that would make a positive difference. Drag show performers are not “grooming” children, they are entertaining, & if the parents take their children to a show, then isn’t that the “freedom” that the Governor is always preaching about? Or does DeSantis define freedom as you are free to agree with his dictates, or if you don’t agree, then you are wrong & to be punished.
I don't get the hatred and bigotry; I truly don't. Leave these poor people alone!
And, the last I checked, it wasn't drag show performers who were molesting young children. Maybe someone ought to tell Republicans that................
That the facts don't match DeFascist's allegations is immaterial. He will pull the venue's license, put them out of business and let the state pay damages in the lawsuit later. But the club will never reopen. It's like the DA that he fired. It was illegal, the court ruled it was illegal, but the DA is still out of a job. Banning drag shows may be unconstitutional. It looks like prior restraint to me (I'm no lawyer but I did teach American Government for years). But no matter. By the time the Federalist Cabal at SCOTUS rules, the damage will have been done and all of the offending clubs in Jesusland will be closed permanently. And that's the point.
Anti-drag show legislation and anti-gender affirming care and book bans to stop LGBTQ support--all under the guise of protecting children--are all part of a scare campaign softening up the public for the end of K12 public education. We are being distracted and turning against one another while behind the scenes those who plan to cash in on schools requiring tuition (no doubt some subsidized by government for the poor who can’t afford to pay) are setting things up to make education for profit like literally everything in this country. You name it--it’s gonna cost you. This is all smoke and mirrors. Wait and see how charter and voucher schools pop up (with anti LGBTQ curricula) and then look who’s making the money. Just like mass incarceration has become money-making, after we were first softened up with Willie Horton scary stories followed by a war on crime and then tough on crime legislation. Now look what we’ve got. A massive system of caging people that we cannot unravel--a monster of our own creation. This is the U.S. playbook. Look at many other institutions--militarized police with enormous budgets--healthcare that can bankrupt you--a gigantic military that generates enormous profits but has actually has made the world less safe. Our retirement savings now in 401Ks and vulnerable to the market. And at the very core--it is OK to harm people to make money. We are just commodities folks. We are on track to perfect the art of exploitation.
Straight swinger communities and venues abound in Florida. There are strip clubs along every county stroad. And the state has become a magnet for pornography producers because it does not regulate porn performers health and workplace conditions like liberal California does.
I’m not pointing this out to castigate sex work,adult entertainment ,or consensual non-monogamy. I’m simply observing that Florida has more than enough heterosexual promiscuity and sexual displays to keep the dreary guardians of other peoples virtue busy for years to come.
But they’re not targeting straight people. Many DeSantis voters go to strip clubs and swingers events. But they aren’t worried about crackdowns. DeSantis isn’t coming for them.
Nobody lives in Florida for the self denial and moral purity, so turning down the sexual thermostat is not going to happen. But the governor has decided it’s politically expedient to set straight libertines against gay ones.
NYT headline-Dec 14, 2022: “Gun violence recently surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for American children.” Gun deaths have also surpassed cancer, suffocation and drug-related deaths for ages 1-18. How many kids have died at drag shows?
So sick of political theatre. The constant stream of lies perpetuating hate is sickening. It's a symptom of how unhappy people are with their own lives that they need to heap hate on people who aren't just like them....miserable and unhappy. It's even worse when those are the people in power. Let's not be fooled that DeSantis is any better than Trump.
Welcome to 1938 Germany. This is part of a much more insidious platform to destabilize democratic democracy. It'll be librarians next, then bloggers, then....
It starts with drinking fountains, Jews, Blacks, and ends with hate. It may not be the gas chambers this round. It will be poor without healthcare, seniors without medications, and anyone homeless being rounded up and interned. This is dangerous, Nazi shit. And we should be VERY, VERY scared.
All the while reading this I kept wondering how these same advocates of banning Drag Queen shows in the name of protecting kids reconcile their thoughts with the many many very famous entertainers who do dance routines in costumes that rival strippers and undulate and gyrate and bend over and leg lift and touch themselves as part of the show in large auditoriums of patrons with kids. Never hear about how those kids need protecting. None of these Florida hypocrites mention the public beaches where nothing is left to the imagination in skimpy swim wear and drunken partying and lewd dancing and making out right next to other spring break families. If they are going to use some concocted justification to show moral outrage on what kids are exposed to why not against the child abusers and sex traffic or the horrid conditions in some of the foster care systems. Where is there concern and protection then? DeSantis and his ilk sound more like the morality police used by the Taliban than somebody who wants to genuinely help make it a safer place for kids.
Republican right wingers have found a way to express their terror about society's growing recognition of gender complications (it ain't simple!) by highlighting drag shows. They used to aim their fire at all LGB folks -- but were rendered just dinosaurs by the growing recognition that most of us just want to live quiet lives together. Brave T and other gender-complex people scare the crap out of people who encounter them anew, unless they can meet complexity in benign visages. Yay for the drag shows!
If I believed in Hell I know who I wish would go there. That these wingnuts get their jollies from fomenting fear and hatred of ther fellow human beings makes me feel physically ill.
They have created a formula they should patent: take a few tweets of outrage, stir in some random outside “influencers,” and then create a false narrative to justify the fascist action. Oh, wait, I think it’s been done many times before in the 20th Century, but DeSatan probably will have that removed from the curriculum as well. Then, the same heads pop up out of the proverbial mire - MTG, Randy Fine, Chaya Raichik, etc., - to pile on with their BS. Perhaps MTG can comment on “the intentional grooming of children” by Rep. Massie and others normalizing the use of AR15s as childhood toys. Next up - cue the faux outrage and ad hominem attacks against Mr. Legum from Mr. Griffin, Ms. Pushaw, et al. Sad but predictable.
If any of this was about sex, it would apply first to R rated movies and such. It's first of all, about targeting a vulnerable group in order to accumulate power through hatred and harm. Second, it's about teaching hate to children, so that they are afraid to be whoever they may actually be and accept others whoever they actually are, and will grow up to serve their tormentors. Both are in service to supremacist rule by white straight-appearing Christian men. (Apologies to any actual followers of Jesus here, who want a world based on kindness not hatred, and share the same label of Christian with a very different meaning.)
Next thing we know, movies like "Some Like it Hot" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" will make this showboating schemer shut down TV service providers who show them.
DeSantis is going to such bizarre lengths to sell fear and fake sanctimoniousness, that I honestly think he might have psychological problems. It's as though he's acting out his lifelong fears. In fact, he's probably struggling with personal sexual issues.
Can’t help wondering whether the national tour of The Book of Mormon ever stopped in Florida, and whether they shut it down. The play includes some pretty lewd stuff. (My adult son was offended, but I thought it was hilarious.) The entire state of Florida is pretty lewd, as other commenters have pointed out. I will never go there again, or send another dollar to a Florida-based business if I can possibly avoid it.
If the Florida Republicans are so concerned about children, then I would suggest they might make some changes that would really protect children: expand Medicaid (Florida is one of only eleven states that has not done so), make affordable housing available, increase the minimum wage, & improve public schools, among many other things that would make a positive difference. Drag show performers are not “grooming” children, they are entertaining, & if the parents take their children to a show, then isn’t that the “freedom” that the Governor is always preaching about? Or does DeSantis define freedom as you are free to agree with his dictates, or if you don’t agree, then you are wrong & to be punished.
I don't get the hatred and bigotry; I truly don't. Leave these poor people alone!
And, the last I checked, it wasn't drag show performers who were molesting young children. Maybe someone ought to tell Republicans that................
That the facts don't match DeFascist's allegations is immaterial. He will pull the venue's license, put them out of business and let the state pay damages in the lawsuit later. But the club will never reopen. It's like the DA that he fired. It was illegal, the court ruled it was illegal, but the DA is still out of a job. Banning drag shows may be unconstitutional. It looks like prior restraint to me (I'm no lawyer but I did teach American Government for years). But no matter. By the time the Federalist Cabal at SCOTUS rules, the damage will have been done and all of the offending clubs in Jesusland will be closed permanently. And that's the point.
Anti-drag show legislation and anti-gender affirming care and book bans to stop LGBTQ support--all under the guise of protecting children--are all part of a scare campaign softening up the public for the end of K12 public education. We are being distracted and turning against one another while behind the scenes those who plan to cash in on schools requiring tuition (no doubt some subsidized by government for the poor who can’t afford to pay) are setting things up to make education for profit like literally everything in this country. You name it--it’s gonna cost you. This is all smoke and mirrors. Wait and see how charter and voucher schools pop up (with anti LGBTQ curricula) and then look who’s making the money. Just like mass incarceration has become money-making, after we were first softened up with Willie Horton scary stories followed by a war on crime and then tough on crime legislation. Now look what we’ve got. A massive system of caging people that we cannot unravel--a monster of our own creation. This is the U.S. playbook. Look at many other institutions--militarized police with enormous budgets--healthcare that can bankrupt you--a gigantic military that generates enormous profits but has actually has made the world less safe. Our retirement savings now in 401Ks and vulnerable to the market. And at the very core--it is OK to harm people to make money. We are just commodities folks. We are on track to perfect the art of exploitation.
Straight swinger communities and venues abound in Florida. There are strip clubs along every county stroad. And the state has become a magnet for pornography producers because it does not regulate porn performers health and workplace conditions like liberal California does.
I’m not pointing this out to castigate sex work,adult entertainment ,or consensual non-monogamy. I’m simply observing that Florida has more than enough heterosexual promiscuity and sexual displays to keep the dreary guardians of other peoples virtue busy for years to come.
But they’re not targeting straight people. Many DeSantis voters go to strip clubs and swingers events. But they aren’t worried about crackdowns. DeSantis isn’t coming for them.
Nobody lives in Florida for the self denial and moral purity, so turning down the sexual thermostat is not going to happen. But the governor has decided it’s politically expedient to set straight libertines against gay ones.
It doesn’t get much more cynical than that.
NYT headline-Dec 14, 2022: “Gun violence recently surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for American children.” Gun deaths have also surpassed cancer, suffocation and drug-related deaths for ages 1-18. How many kids have died at drag shows?
So sick of political theatre. The constant stream of lies perpetuating hate is sickening. It's a symptom of how unhappy people are with their own lives that they need to heap hate on people who aren't just like them....miserable and unhappy. It's even worse when those are the people in power. Let's not be fooled that DeSantis is any better than Trump.
Welcome to 1938 Germany. This is part of a much more insidious platform to destabilize democratic democracy. It'll be librarians next, then bloggers, then....
It starts with drinking fountains, Jews, Blacks, and ends with hate. It may not be the gas chambers this round. It will be poor without healthcare, seniors without medications, and anyone homeless being rounded up and interned. This is dangerous, Nazi shit. And we should be VERY, VERY scared.
All the while reading this I kept wondering how these same advocates of banning Drag Queen shows in the name of protecting kids reconcile their thoughts with the many many very famous entertainers who do dance routines in costumes that rival strippers and undulate and gyrate and bend over and leg lift and touch themselves as part of the show in large auditoriums of patrons with kids. Never hear about how those kids need protecting. None of these Florida hypocrites mention the public beaches where nothing is left to the imagination in skimpy swim wear and drunken partying and lewd dancing and making out right next to other spring break families. If they are going to use some concocted justification to show moral outrage on what kids are exposed to why not against the child abusers and sex traffic or the horrid conditions in some of the foster care systems. Where is there concern and protection then? DeSantis and his ilk sound more like the morality police used by the Taliban than somebody who wants to genuinely help make it a safer place for kids.
Republican right wingers have found a way to express their terror about society's growing recognition of gender complications (it ain't simple!) by highlighting drag shows. They used to aim their fire at all LGB folks -- but were rendered just dinosaurs by the growing recognition that most of us just want to live quiet lives together. Brave T and other gender-complex people scare the crap out of people who encounter them anew, unless they can meet complexity in benign visages. Yay for the drag shows!
If I believed in Hell I know who I wish would go there. That these wingnuts get their jollies from fomenting fear and hatred of ther fellow human beings makes me feel physically ill.
They have created a formula they should patent: take a few tweets of outrage, stir in some random outside “influencers,” and then create a false narrative to justify the fascist action. Oh, wait, I think it’s been done many times before in the 20th Century, but DeSatan probably will have that removed from the curriculum as well. Then, the same heads pop up out of the proverbial mire - MTG, Randy Fine, Chaya Raichik, etc., - to pile on with their BS. Perhaps MTG can comment on “the intentional grooming of children” by Rep. Massie and others normalizing the use of AR15s as childhood toys. Next up - cue the faux outrage and ad hominem attacks against Mr. Legum from Mr. Griffin, Ms. Pushaw, et al. Sad but predictable.
If any of this was about sex, it would apply first to R rated movies and such. It's first of all, about targeting a vulnerable group in order to accumulate power through hatred and harm. Second, it's about teaching hate to children, so that they are afraid to be whoever they may actually be and accept others whoever they actually are, and will grow up to serve their tormentors. Both are in service to supremacist rule by white straight-appearing Christian men. (Apologies to any actual followers of Jesus here, who want a world based on kindness not hatred, and share the same label of Christian with a very different meaning.)
My 13-year-old just said “if those kids live in Florida my guess is they’ve seen plenty of people in short shorts and bikinis.” 😂
Next thing we know, movies like "Some Like it Hot" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" will make this showboating schemer shut down TV service providers who show them.
DeSantis is going to such bizarre lengths to sell fear and fake sanctimoniousness, that I honestly think he might have psychological problems. It's as though he's acting out his lifelong fears. In fact, he's probably struggling with personal sexual issues.
Can’t help wondering whether the national tour of The Book of Mormon ever stopped in Florida, and whether they shut it down. The play includes some pretty lewd stuff. (My adult son was offended, but I thought it was hilarious.) The entire state of Florida is pretty lewd, as other commenters have pointed out. I will never go there again, or send another dollar to a Florida-based business if I can possibly avoid it.