PHILADELPHIA — A prom for LGBTQ youth in Doylestown sponsored by a state senator is drawing online attacks — and inspiring legislation from former GOP gubernatorial nominee State Sen. Doug Mastriano.
The Rainbow Room, a Planned Parenthood-sponsored LGBTQ youth center that’s been serving Bucks County teens for more than 20 years, hosted a “queer prom” in October, an event where students can re-create the milestone dance in a welcoming environment. The event was sponsored by State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-Bucks.
During the event, a former Rainbow Room member now in college performed a dance in drag. Libs of TikTok, an anti-LGBTQ Twitter account whose posts are often picked up by conservative media, tweeted video of the performance Monday.
The same day, State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, asked lawmakers to cosponsor legislation to ban drag performances on public property or in areas that can be seen by minors, citing what he described as a “sexually charged drag show” at the Rainbow Room’s queer prom. He said the bill would reclassify drag performances into the same category as adult bookstores and strip clubs.
“Drag shows that appeal to minors on school property, libraries, and other public places should not be accepted in any functioning society,” Mastriano wrote in a memo to all 50 state senators.
Mastriano did not respond to requests for comment.
The Rainbow Room, which meets weekly at a church, has long been a target of conservative parent groups in Bucks County and beyond. Critics have scoured the group’s social media and accused them of showing minors sexually explicit materials.
In a letter responding to Mastriano, Santarsiero wrote that the Rainbow Room has been a lifeline for LGBTQ youth in Bucks County for 20 years. The Central Bucks School District bans teachers from hanging Pride flags or advocating for social policies in schools.
“Having an organization like the Rainbow Room and an event like the Queer Prom can very literally save the lives of kids who otherwise experience feelings of depression and isolation,” Santarsiero wrote.
With Santarsiero as a sponsor of the queer prom, his name was used on fliers, but no state tax dollars were used to host it, he said. He sponsored the Rainbow Room’s first queer prom in 2020, shortly after his now-19-year-old son came out as gay. The 2021 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Santarsiero said he chose to sponsor the event again in 2022 — though he could not attend — because it “shows these kids that those of us in positions of authority as public elected officials love them and support them.”
The 2022 event was held at a private business.
A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Keystone said in a statement that the family planning organization is proud of its “life-changing programming.”
“Let’s be clear about what’s happening — it is another attack to invalidate and stigmatize LGBTQ+ youth,” Samantha Bobila, a spokesperson, said in a statement. “LGBTQ+ youth deserve joy, support, and safe spaces and our Queer Prom was a celebration of them. Rainbow Room participants and their parents support our work because we support them. And we’ll never stop doing that.”
Santarsiero told The Inquirer he’s experienced increased online harassment in recent days but is more concerned about the young people at the Rainbow Room.
“We’re at a point now where we have to worry about their safety, and that’s really troubling,” Santarsiero said, adding that the Rainbow Room has become a “piñata” for far-right groups.
Planned Parenthood Keystone did not answer questions about harassment and threats it may be seeing.
Santarsiero said he believes few of the attacks on the Rainbow Room are coming from parents in Bucks County or even Pennsylvania. He questioned whether the attacks are even coming from real people or automated bots.
“It is a vocal minority that does not support (LGBTQ youth),” Santarsiero said. “(Teens) should not lose hope that better days are coming. There are people out there who value them and accept them for who they are. It doesn’t matter to them whether they’re LGBTQ. It’s just important that they’re good people.”
Mastriano is gathering cosponsors who want to sign on in support of his bill, which would need to then be formally introduced and begin going through the legislative process. Even if the GOP-controlled Senate passed the legislation, it’s unlikely that a Democratic-controlled House would — meaning the legislation is likely to signal to Mastriano’s supporters that he’ll continue being the voice for conservative parents in the General Assembly.
Mastriano wrote that his measure would ban drag performances from public places or other places where minors could view “sexually explicit” performances.
There has been at least one instance of a drag performance on school property in Pennsylvania: Last April, a high school in Lancaster County showed an after-school drag show hosted by the high school’s Gay Sexuality Alliance club.
Staff writer Maddie Hanna contributed to this article.
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