DeSantis weighs action against parents who take children to drag shows

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened to have Florida’s child protective services investigate parents who take their children to drag queen shows at a news conference on Wednesday.

The Republican governor's statements come after Republicans blasted viral footage of children at Drag The Kids to Pride, a “family friendly drag show” at a gay bar in Dallas, Texas. Performers in drag danced and walked down the aisle and sometimes took dollar bills from children, reports ABC 8 WFAA in Dallas.

“We have child protective statutes on the books,” DeSantis, 43, told onlookers during a conference in Fort Myers Beach Wednesday, in which he addressed public outcry over the footage.

“We have laws against child endangerment.”

DeSantis was responding to a question from a reporter about state Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R)’s announcement on Monday to charge parents who take their children to “these perverted sex shows” with a felony after seeing news of a similar drag show in Palm Beach.

BREAKING: Drag Sex Shows aimed at children have come to Florida

I will be proposing Legislation to charge w/ a Felony & terminate the parental rights of any adult who brings a child to these perverted sex shows aimed at FL kids

When will the sexualization of children stop? pic.twitter.com/m8cJ2ORNJo

— Rep. Anthony Sabatini (@AnthonySabatini) June 7, 2022

“It used to be kids would be off-limits - used to be everybody agreed with that,” DeSantis continued.

“Now it just seems like there's a concerted effort to be exposing kids more and more to things that are not age appropriate.”

The Texas drag show was protested by family groups who said they were concerned about children attending an event with sexual undertones at a gay bar.

“We were also pretty concerned when we saw the signage on the bar’s website that says “It’s not gonna lick itself,’” Protect Texas Children said in a statement, reports ABC 8 WFAA.

LGBT advocates and drag performers have pushed back, saying that shows with young audiences are less explicit.

All conservatives know how to do is lie. This isn't a drag queen they cropped the image to make you think it is because they have colored hair. This is a female burlesque dancer. You can keep crying about it if you want but stop lying. https://t.co/8i59bnhuOM pic.twitter.com/YSw2fFwioO

— Shark3ozero (Sigma Male) Top 0.15% of Twitch (@Shark3ozero) June 6, 2022

Some have also criticized photos being shared by conservative activist are not of drag queens at all, but other adult dancers with similar aesthetics.