Why Are People So Surprised That Little Children Were Entertained by Drag Queens in a Gay Bar?

There is a lot of outrage over viral video footage depicting little children being entertained by drag queens in a gay bar. As Alex Stein tweeted, “7 year-olds tipping drag queens and hanging out in a 21 and up bar & the Dallas Police dept is letting it happen….why not enforce the law?” And there should be outrage. But there should be no surprise. Scenes like this have been common at gay pride events for many years, with full parental approval.

In response to local protests at the gay bar, the bar, named Mr. Misster, released a statement claiming it was raising money for a local LGBTQ+ youth organization and accused protesters of being “transphobic.”

As the bar’s statement explained, “We are more than happy to open our doors to celebrate Pride in a family friendly, safe environment, separate from our normal operations of 2 p.m.-2 a.m. on Saturdays because we believe that everyone should have a space to be able to celebrate who they are. Mr. Misster is a place where everyone is welcome to feel accepted, safe and included. We had a group of protestors outside yelling homophobic threats, transphobic remarks and vile accusations at these children and parents.”

Oh, those terrible, evil protesters! As for the vulgar verbiage posted on one of the bar’s walls—get over it!

Once again, there should be outrage but not surprise. Not in the least.

Last year, on July 6, I posted an article titled “This Is the Dangerous LGBTQ+ Trajectory That We Have Been Warning About.”

In it, I referenced an op-ed in the Washington Post in which a “gendervague” parent wanted her kids to “check out the BDSM practices enjoyed by some of our community” that were on display at gay pride events.

And this was her reasoning: “Children who witness kink culture are reassured that alternative experiences of sexuality and expression are valid—no matter who they become as they mature, helping them recognize that their personal experiences aren’t bad or wrong, and that they aren’t alone in their experiences.”

The op-ed also produced outrage, some of which was cited in an article by Mary Margaret Olohan titled “‘You Should be in Prison’: Critics Slam WaPo Article Encouraging ‘Kink Culture’ for Children.”

But while the outrage was fully justified, there should have been no surprise at all. These kinds of attitudes have been common among some members of the LGBTQ+ community for many years.

As I wrote on June 26, 2019:

There are some things so wrong that we cannot allow ourselves to get used to them. We must always be outraged over them. Always grieved over them. We can never accept them as the new status quo. The drag queen assault on our children is one of those things.

I’m talking about the celebration of little children in drag.

I’m talking about drag queens dancing for our children (and reading stories to them).

I’m talking about children posing with naked (or nearly naked) drag queens.

This is unacceptable. This is perverse. This is outrageous.

It was bad enough when this stuff happened at gay pride parades.

It was even worse when it started to happen in our community libraries.

Now it has even entered houses of worship. [See further here.]

Should we be outraged? Absolutely. Should we be surprised? Not at all.

As I explained in a March 2020 article, “It Was Drag Queens Dancing for Little Children That Got My Attention in 2004.”

Yes, that was back in 2004, well before most of us had LGBTQ+ activism on our radar.

That was certainly the case for me before 2004, as I devoted almost none of my writing or speaking to the subject. I did not even focus on outreach to those who identified as LGBTQ+.

But, as I wrote, after colleagues of mine shared the gospel at a 2004 gay pride event in Charlotte, North Carolina, they shared with me in detail what they saw. (I was doing ministry in England at the time.)

There was a gay porn exhibit that anyone—including children—could view.

Our team snapped pictures to document all this while they were there. The images were terribly disturbing. And where were the parents? Did they care?

And then there was the drag queen.

He was dressed in a tutu, and he was dancing before a small crowd of onlookers. (I can assure you he was not doing ballet.)

As he shimmied and shook, a small child walked up to him—again, in the presence of a good number of adults—and put a dollar in the drag queen’s underwear.

What insanity.

More troubling still, when we raised our voice in protest in the months (and years) that followed, there seemed to be no outcry from the local gay community.

It’s one thing for them to want to be out and proud. To walk down the streets, with men holding hands with men and women holding hands with women. To proclaim that their relationships are just as valid as heterosexual relationships. To call for “equality and tolerance.”

While I profoundly differ with them on all these fronts, I fully understand why they would unite together in a gay pride event like this.

But pornographic displays in view of children? And a drag queen in a tutu dancing for little children? And an innocent little child putting money in the drag queen’s panties?

When I discussed this with local gay activists (whom I sought to befriend for honest dialogue and understanding), I was basically told this: “Those children were not there on their own. They were there under the oversight of their parent or parents. And we trust the judgment of those parents.”

When I wrote to Starbucks in 2005, sending them pictures of the 2004 gay pride event and urging them to drop their sponsorship, they responded, “Starbucks is deeply committed to our Mission Statement and Guiding Principles. One of our six principles is ’embracing diversity as an essential component to the way we do business.’ This includes the gay and lesbian community. Supporting local events like the Gay Pride Festival in Charlotte, NC, gives us the opportunity to live by the values we have set.”

Yes, this is how they justified their actions after reviewing the graphic images that we sent them.

And this is why so many of us have been raising our voices these many years, urging compassionate outreach to the LGBTQ+ community along with courageous resistance of their agenda.

It is a direct and perverse attack on the children. And it has happened on our watch. {eoa}

Dr. Michael Brown (askdrbrown.org) is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is The Silencing of the Lambs: The Ominous Rise of Cancel Culture and How We Can Overcome It. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

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