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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

June 10, 2022 3:31pm

Updated: June 10, 2022 3:31pm

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.

“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.

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