JACKSONVILLE (LifeSiteNews) – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration stripped the liquor license of an Orlando venue on Friday for hosting a grotesquely sexual drag queen show with children in attendance.
The six-count complaint filed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) accuses the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation of violating state law by exposing minors to sexual acts and “lewd and lascivious exhibitions.”
The DBPR charged the company with knowingly allowing performers to simulate sex acts, expose prosthetic genitalia and breasts, and display obscene videos in front of children at the December 28 show, called “A Drag Queen Christmas.”
Drag queens reportedly simulated masturbation, oral sex, and abortion and performed vulgar renditions of children’s Christmas songs, including “Screwdolph the Red-Nippled Reindeer.”
READ: Drag queen who danced for kids charged with 25 counts of child pornography
The complaint includes images of minors being escorted into the event. Some children in attendance appeared to be “less than 6 years of age,” it states.
According to the complaint, the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation advertised the drag queen show with “Christmas-themed promotion materials that did not provide notice” about the sexual nature of the event. Promotional materials specifically described it as “all-ages welcome.”
The DeSantis administration had warned the foundation in a letter prior to the event that Florida laws “provide strict penalties for licensees who allow minors to attend these drag shows at the licensed premises,” including license revocation.
The letter stressed that “sexually explicit drag show performances constitute public nuisances, lewd activity, and disorderly conduct when minors are in attendance.”
But the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation ignored the warning, posting a sign at the entrance stating that it was “not restricting access to anyone under 18,” according to a photo contained in the DBPR complaint.
“The venue proceeded with their plans and, according to an investigation by the Department, the venue violated Florida statutes as outlined in the attached complaint,” DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin said in a statement. “Therefore, the Department is revoking the venue’s license for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.”
DBPR has also launched an investigation into a December 26 drag show attended by children in Fort Lauderdale, following complaints that the event was “sexually explicit” and “marketed to children,” the department said. That event took place at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
The drag shows in both Orlando and Fort Lauderdale were part of a 36-show tour that featured regulars from the TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race, the Washington Times noted.
Obscene drag shows for children have proliferated across the U.S. in recent months, prompting widespread outrage among parents and conservatives, as LifeSiteNews’s Jonathon Van Maren has detailed:
Drag queens are promoting gender fluidity to kids; teaching children how to “perform” and collect tips like strippers; and doing sexually explicit dances in front of children. The activists behind Drag Queen Story Hour have stated explicitly that their aim is to “create a site of queer pleasure” and subvert “childhood innocence.”
Gov. DeSantis, who has repeatedly taken action to curb the LGBT agenda, has vowed to crack down on the trend in Florida. Last year, he served a complaint to a Miami bar where a drag queen with exposed breasts and a thong led a five-year-old girl by the hand.
The DeSantis administration may bring additional complaints against the Philharmonic and could file charges against the Broward Center and another Miami venue where a similar event took place in December, The Floridian reported.
Republican leaders in other states are also advancing restrictions on drag queen shows, including in Arkansas, where lawmakers last month passed legislation to designate them as “adult-oriented” businesses.