COLUMBIA, Missouri (LifeSiteNews) — A Missouri school district is facing fire for exposing kids to a drag show as part of a sanctioned field trip to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.
But the district stands by its decision, reflecting the ongoing battle between conservatives who want to protect kids from being sexualized and public schools that want to push an inappropriate, LGBT agenda on young children.
“On Jan. 19, 30 [Columbia Public Schools] middle schoolers took a field trip to the Columbia Values Diversity Celebration breakfast, according to the school district,” KOMU.com, a local news station, reported.
Superintendent Brian Yearwood admitted that the district did not properly look into the content, but stood by its decision to bring children there. He also claimed that the school district “cannot expect to have complete information” about what will attend at events they preplan to attend, even though the district could of course inquire ahead of time.
District officials were “unaware what the performance by NClusion+ [the drag show group] would entail,” Yearwood wrote. But he stood by his decision to use taxpayer dollars to transport children to a drag show by referencing MLK. He said the event was definitely not of a “sexual nature” and called such accusations and used the favored buzzword of “misinformation” to push back on criticism of exposing kids to a drag show.
Given the purpose of the breakfast and the distortions that followed, I think it is appropriate to conclude in the same place where this began. In 1947, Dr. King wrote an essay titled “The Purpose of Education,” which included the following thought: “Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal and the facts from the fiction.”
This is an apparent attempt to place the district’s decision to allow kids to attend a drag show on par with the civil rights legacy of MLK.
The decision to expose kids to sexualized content drew criticism from state leaders.
“I am calling for the resignation or termination of any school official that knew that the drag show was going to be part of the event and willfully took children to the event,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said on January 23 in response to the controversy. “They need to resign or be terminated immediately.”
“This is shameful behavior, this is nothing short of deplorable,” Bailey said. “Don’t let them hide behind the shroud, the cloak, the deception of ‘diversity’ because the issue is about protecting children.”
We are deeply concerned about reports that Columbia middle school students were subjected to adult performers during what is historically a MLK Day celebration. This is unacceptable.
— Governor Mike Parson (@GovParsonMO) January 20, 2023
Governor Mike Parsons also criticized the school district, which prompted the letter from Superintendent Yearwood.
“We are deeply concerned about reports that Columbia middle school students were subjected to adult performers during what is historically a MLK Day celebration. This is unacceptable,” he tweeted on Friday, January 20.
“Parents weren’t clearly informed of the contents of the program, and adult performances are not diversity,” he wrote. “Columbia Public Schools should focus on educational experiences that prioritize math, reading, writing, science, and history, which parents expect and demand for their kids.”
Public schools have faced criticism before for their role in grooming children.