Florida’s Drag Queens & Nikki Fried – Top 3 Takeaways – April 13th, 2023
- Drag queens and Florida politics. So, what’s the deal with drag queens and Florida politics? Much less than meets the eye, especially if your eyes have gazed upon the protesting drag queens in Tallahassee. Not since Aerosmith was at the top of the charts have we consistently heard so much about dudes that look like ladies. And Logo is about the only other place to go to find as many queens on TV screens as are in your local newscasts. But what we’re really witnessing by those who wake up daily waiting to be offended, including those who do that and report on news, is a different version of a similar thing to the song and dance we’ve heard before. The noise level about drag queens has been rising because Florida’s Protection of Children bill has been advancing in the state legislature – most recently passing the state senate on a party-line vote. But the real deal is that just as was done last year in Florida’s Parental Rights in Education legislation, slandered as “don’t say gay” ... They’re back and doing it again. But this time dressed in drag (I’m speaking of the protestors, I can neither confirm nor deny the status of many of the news reporters falsely characterizing the bill). So yes, just as was the case last year in which nowhere in the legislation was the word “gay” used, let alone disallowed within our schools... Nowhere in the Protection of Children bill is the word “drag” ever used. As for what is in it? Well, like Florida’s Parental Rights in Education legislation –
- It's easy to see. The bill is fewer than five pages that apparently the drag show queens, nor the potential reporting queens have bothered to read. Here’s the exact language from the bill: authorizing the Division of Hotels and Restaurants of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to fine, suspend, or revoke the license of any public lodging establishment or public food service establishment if the establishment admits a child to an adult live performance. Well, shut the front door. Would you look at that? No mention of drag, no mention of show, not even a mention of chicks with...anyway. So, here’s the commonsense and straight forward question. Who feels children should be admitted to adult live performances? Do you feel children should be admitted to adult live performances? And in case you’re on the fence or in doubt about what that’s defined as an “adult live performance”, here’s the language straight from the bill: “Adult live performance” means any show, exhibition, or other presentation in front of a live audience which, in whole or in part, depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or specific sexual activities. So, I’ll rephrase for the sake of clarity. Do you feel children should be admitted to live events depicting or simulating nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or specific sexual activities? And if the answer is yes, you're more confused than a heterosexual male watching Ru Paul. You’d also have much bigger issues to address than concerns over drag shows. So yes, once again some queens have screamed, and your news media has lied. The more things change the more they stay the same. Speaking of which...
- Nikki’s new but the results are not. Nikki ran for governor as being “something new”. That didn’t work out. She then ran to be the head of Florida’s Democrats as “something new”. That did work out...at least for her. The early returns from her second month on the job are in, and Nikki’s trend is not her party’s friend. Yesterday Florida’s Division of Elections provided the monthly voter registration update and the result was thousands more Democrats defecting and thousands more NPAs and Republicans registering. So, Republicans once again have a new record advantage in partisan registrations over Democrats which means the only new thing is Nikki leading the state’s Democratic party. Her brand of especially “progressive” politics isn’t. That’s not what Florida stands for nor what Floridians want to vote for. So yeah, Nikki’s new to her post but the results for her party are not.