Florida's summer of culture wars heats up today with two controversies — drag queens and sex education in schools — both making national headlines. Both deal with parental choice and are favorite battlegrounds for Gov. Ron DeSantis, on the warpath to ensure reelection.
DeSantis is making a very public effort to take away the liquor license of a popular Miami drag venue, R House in Wynwood, for allowing children inside its popular performance brunches. The state’s Department of Business and Regulation says in a complaint the shows are “sexualized drag events.”
“Having kids involved in this is wrong,” DeSantis said. “That is not consistent with our law and policy in the state of Florida. And it is a disturbing trend in our society to try to sexualize these young people.”
He forgets, however, that if parents taking their children to a drag show is the flip side of the parental choice he champions.
Drag queens performing in front of children was a non-issue until DeSantis, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and other turned it into a ridiculous red-meat issue, which the Miami Herald Editorial Board decried.
Meanwhile, Thursday, the Miami-Dade School Board will revisit its banning of textbooks used to teach sex education in our district. Last week, board members voted 5-4 to ban a specific book, but a group of 278 parents signed a petition asking them to reconsider. The Board is taking up the heated issue again.
Welcome to DeSantis’ “free” state of Florida.
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