Where are children more in danger: a drag show or a house of worship? N.C. House Bill 673 asserts the focus of our fear should be those female impersonators who dance across the stage, call out bingo numbers and occasionally read books to children. Anyone who performs in a drag show in public could be arrested and charged with a crime under a new bill proposed by North Carolina Republican lawmakers, including sponsor Rep. Jeff Zenger, R-Forsyth. Zenger filed the bill after receiving complaints about a drag show at a local community college.
Many conservatives are quick to equate drag queens with pedophilia and other forms of child abuse, but the weight of historical evidence should make us more concerned about trusting children in the company of priests and youth pastors.
In 2022, Southern Baptists released a previously secret list of hundreds of pastors and other church-affiliated personnel accused of sexual abuse, including 30 North Carolinians. There have been thousands of reported cases of sexual abuse among Catholic priests and the subsequent cover-up of their abuse by archdioceses across the country. In 2019, the Diocese of Charlotte published a list of 14 clergy who were credibly accused of child sexual abuse, including Michael Joseph Kelleher, who served at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Hendersonville.
In recent headlines, a Franklin, Tenn., pastor was arrested in April, accused of using his church’s internet to upload images of child sexual abuse. In February, a Pennsylvania grand jury accused nine men with connections to Jehovah’s Witnesses to cases of sexual abuse.
All forms of child sexual abuse, child pornography and exploitation should be condemned and prosecuted, but the Republican Party’s laser focus on drag shows isn’t about protecting children. It’s political theater and a waste of time and energy.
— John Owens
Hendersonville
Fun fact: Public school teachers are somewhere around 100x more likely to sexually assault a child than priests or youth pastors.
Drag shows are great, but they are for ADULTS. It’s really that simple. We need to stop normalizing putting little children in these types of situations. Nobody cared about Drag Queens until they started getting with the kids. End of story.
Why are drag queens attracted to your children ? What self respecting drag queen comes out in the light of day? They are nocturnal creatures. GaysAgainstGroomers is quite active in NC now…
It doesn’t matter WHY someone is against something, when the something is question is actually wrong.
Drag shows for kids is wrong.
Instead you change the focus to what you personally believe their motives to be. Needing to change the subject is a godo sign that you know they are right.