Politics
James Uthmeier wants Pensacola to shut down ‘demonic’ drag Christmas show
Uthmeier says ‘men masquerading as women claim to “put the Ho Ho Ho into holidays.”‘
War on Christmas?
Attorney General James Uthmeier is playing Grinch when it comes to a Panhandle holiday celebration featuring drag performers.
“Two days before Christmas, Pensacola will host a demonic, sexually explicit drag show at the city-owned Saenger Theatre. Pensacola shouldn’t platform obscenities that denigrate its residents and expose kids to harmful content. They should cancel the event,” Uthmeier wrote in a letter to the Pensacola City Council.
Uthmeier objects to the touring Drag Queen Christmas production, which has come under fire from the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration during previous years when Uthmeier was a senior staffer for what was then dubbed “a sexually explicit performance marketed to children.”
Admission for this “fabulous remix of classic Christmas hits, dazzling themed variety performances, and interactive moments to share your Christmas cheer for the most magical time of the year” is for people 18 and over, but that doesn’t matter to Florida’s top cop.
He objects here to the event being “where men masquerading as women claim to ‘put the Ho Ho Ho into holidays,’” saying that “while Pensacola children are taking pictures with Santa, men dressed as garish women in demonic costumes will be engaged in obscene behavior mere feet away.”
Florida law doesn’t explicitly define “demonic” as used by the Attorney General.
Uthmeier argues against that the city position that the event poses no risk to children, saying Pensacola simply “lacks the will” to cancel the event, despite “public outrage” that demonstrates that local residents “categorically reject this show’s content as a threat to the moral fabric and general welfare of the community.”
According to Dragfans.com, which is the website for the company promoting the event, dozens of performances are booked around the country in what is now the production’s 11th year, including in Orlando and St. Petersburg.
Florida’s anti-drag laws have been successfully challenged in court in recent years, lowering the state’s ability to crack down on what Uthmeier calls “obscene content” from performers like Suzie Toot, Crystal Methyd and Jewels Sparkles.
