The administration of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis punished a venue for hosting a sexually explicit performance of “A Drag Queen Christmas” in front of children.
Numerous venues were warned against allowing minors at sexually explicit drag shows by Florida officials in December. On Tuesday, officials said that the Hyatt Regency Miami had violated the order over the Drag Show Christmas performance at the James L. Knight Center.
“Sexually explicit content is not appropriate to display to children and doing so violates Florida law. Governor DeSantis stands up for the innocence of children in the classroom and throughout Florida,” read a statement from Bryan Griffin, press secretary for DeSantis.
Video from the performance was captured by a Florida’s Voice reporter and showed dancers with a “Screwdolph the Red-Nippled Reindeer” character.
According to Florida’s Voice, the complaint accused the venue of hosting performers who committed “acts of simulated sexual activity, and lewd, vulgar, and indecent displays.”
Among those were the following:
- Performers forcibly penetrating or rubbing exposed prosthetic female breasts against faces of audience members
- Intentionally exposing performers’ prosthetic female breasts and genitalia to the audience
- Intentionally exposing performers’ buttocks to the audience
- Simulating masturbation through performers’ digitally penetrating prosthetic female genitalia
The venue reportedly allowed children to attend if they were accompanied by an adult.
DeSantis had been praised by many on the right for the warnings issued to venues in December.
“To avoid action being taken against your license, it is your obligation to ensure that minors are prohibited from attending the Drag Fans drag show. If minors are allowed to attend this drag show, the Department will take any and all actions available to ensure that you do not pose a threat to minors in the future,” wrote Melanie Griggin, the secretary of business and professional regulation, at the time.
DeSantis is widely considered to be among the top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, though he has not yet officially declared a presidential campaign.
Here’s more about the Drag Queen Christmas controversy:
DeSantis admin expands investigations of Drag Queen Christmas shows in Floridawww.youtube.com
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