According to a complaint filed Friday, the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) moved to revoke the liquor license of a Florida venue that hosted a “sexually explicit” drag show that was open to children.
On December 28, the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation, a performance art center, hosted a performance of “A Drag Queen Christmas,” which was advertised as being open to “all ages” despite the state of Florida’s warnings about restricting attendance if the performance was sexually explicit.
Following the performance, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation filed an administrative complaint to revoke the venue’s liquor license after determining that the performance was explicit and children were present.
“Governor DeSantis stands to protect children’s innocence, and the governor always follows through on his promises,” DeSantis Press Secretary Bryan Griffin said in a statement to Florida’s Voice News.
The theater “promoted the Show using targeted, Christmas-themed promotional materials that did not provide notice as to the sexually explicit nature of the show’s performance or other content,” according to the complaint.
“Rather than drawing attention to the Show’s sexually explicit content or admitting that it might not be appropriate for children, Respondent’s promotional material stated unequivocally ‘all ages welcome,’” the complaint continues.
The show’s explicit content, according to officials, included exposing prosthetic breasts and female genitalia, exposing performers’ buttocks, simulated masturbation, and sexually explicit children’s Christmas songs like “Screwdolph the Red-Nippled Reindeer.”
According to the complaint, the performance violated several Florida statutes, prompting the agency to move to revoke the liquor license. The complaint stems from a Florida investigation into several drag performances, including one in Fort Lauderdale.
Republicans in other states have also introduced legislation to prohibit children from attending sexually explicit drag shows. A bill to prohibit children from attending such performances advanced in the Tennessee state Senate earlier this week.
Republican state Sen. Jack Johnson introduced the bill, telling The Daily Wire in December that he is “cautiously optimistic” it will pass.
“I think we would all agree that some of the videos we have seen recently of some of these drag shows that were quote-unquote family-friendly were anything but that. And If I had attended one of those with my kids I would have been mortified and I would have wanted someone to be prosecuted for engaging in that kind of entertainment in front of my kids,” Johnson said.
