ORLANDO, Fla. — A Boone High School LGBTQ student club’s plans for a “drag & donuts” meeting after school Thursday was canceled after criticism from a conservative member of the Orange County School Board and Florida’s Education Commissioner.
The Queer and Ally Alliance at the Orlando school planned to gather for the third year in a row with Jason DeShazo, a Lakeland man who performs as Momma Ashley Rose. DeShazo bills himself as “the Disney channel of drag,” and and runs a charitable foundation that mentors and supports LGBTQ students.
In a recorded phone message to parents sent Wednesday afternoon, Boone Principal Hector Maestre said the after-school gathering “was not a drag show” but “an opportunity for students to hear “a positive message of acceptance and love.”
