Shocking images have surfaced on Twitter of a so-called ‘family-friendly’ drag queen show in which one of the performers spreads his legs in front of an audience with young children.
‘This is what a ‘family-friendly’ drag show looks like. Drag queens spread their legs so small children can tip them,” said the infamous Libs of TikTok Twitter account.
While the time and location have yet to be determined, the event appears to have been sponsored by IPIC Movie Theaters, which operates a number of locations in the Northeastern US, Florida and California.
In the short clip, a scantily clad drag queen takes a forward roll along a catwalk before suggestively spreading their legs wide in a skimpy leotard.
A drag queen turned out to be performing at a ‘family-friendly’ event with a tip jar beforehand
Young children were present when the sexually suggestive movements were made just steps away
The performer performed a forward roll as they appeared on a makeshift catwalk
Several young children were present in the audience as the suggestive movements were made
The drag queen spread their legs and pushed their breasts forward
The performer then pushes their chests forward as a young boy is only a few feet away and appears to be tipping another cast member.
Earlier this year, the person behind Libs of TikTok’s Facebook account — formerly known as real estate agent Chaya Raichik in Brooklyn — was permanently suspended from the social media platform.
TikTok’s anti-wake Twitter account Libs has long shared their growing concern about children being taken to sexualized shows in the name of diversity.
This latest clip generated a visceral response online.
“As a gay man, I completely deny this. This is completely inappropriate and must stop,” Joseph Jones wrote.
“I don’t know how these ‘family-friendly’ drag shows have become so common, so quickly. I feel like this was only a year ago,” Joseph Steimle said.
“I just DO NOT understand the parents who voluntarily expose their children to this nonsense. No, I don’t WANT to understand,” said one.
“This is super weird. These parents should be examined,” another added.
The latest clip of a drag queen performing for kids generated a deep-seated reaction online
The September 2021 video, posted nearly nine months later by the infamous @LibsofTikTok account, shows the artist then taking off, taking a few more tips and letting it all hang.
Similar cases have been recorded in the past, including in September 2021 when a young girl was filmed tipping a drag queen as she bares a huge set of synthetic breasts at a “family-friendly” event in a Michigan gay came.
The child, whose age has not been disclosed, passed a bill in the clip to RuPaul’s Drag Race star Yara Sofia at Hamburger Mary’s in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
She was sitting on the knee of a grown woman at the time, who smiled warmly as the youngster tipped the artist, whose real name is Gabriel Burgos Ortiz.
Sofia stepped around the bar wearing a pair of large fake breasts that hung outside her costumes, complete with little yellow pasties covering the nipples in what looked like an attempt at modesty.
Hamburger Mary’s Grand Rapids outlet closed in January this year, but its Facebook page is still active, complete with dozens of event flyers.
Many of them are explicitly advertised as targeting audiences 18 and older only.
But the flyer for the drag event attended by Yara Sofia was not, suggesting that it may indeed have been marketed as a ‘family-friendly’ event as well.
This is the flyer for the Yara Sofia event. Unlike other evenings advertised by Hamburger Mary’s, it was not billed as being only for customers aged 18 and over, suggesting it could be considered a family-friendly event
Yara Sofia is the stage name of Gabriel Burgos Ortiz, 38, born in Puerto Rico and singer
The videos of young people interacting with the drag queens come at a time when debates are raging across the country about whether young children are exposed to inappropriate content by well-meaning family members and educators in the name of support for LGBT equality.
New York City has spent a lot of money sending drag queens to the public elementary schools and has dropped more than $200,000 in performances since 2018.
In May, data shows the city paid $46,000 to send Drag Story Hour NYC to public schools, libraries and street festivals, according to the New York Post.
Some parents say the programs were booked without their consent, while city officials have reacted with outrage, according to the Post.
Drag Queen story hours have also made headlines. They see artists reading storybooks to children at events in schools or libraries.
The books read to children are storybooks for children, usually by drag queens in less revealing outfits.
Supporters say the events are harmless and harmless, but conservatives argue that the story hours often culminate in age-appropriate vulgarity.
A drag queen named Flame reads stories to children and their caregivers during a Drag Story Hour at a New York public library in June
Drag Queen Story Hour, a non-profit organization, was founded in 2015 in San Francisco by activist and author Michelle Tea. Since then, chapters have opened in the US and elsewhere. Other organizations with readers in drag have also formed.
As part of Drag Queen Story Hour programming, drag queens read to children and their parents in libraries, bookstores, fairs, parks and other public spaces to celebrate reading “through the glamorous art of drag.”
In 2021, there were 67 personal appearances and 141 with nearly 1,000 schoolchildren exposed. In 2022 alone, Drag Story Hour NYC has made 49 appearances at 34 public schools in New York City, according to its website.
The organization is characterized by promoting inclusivity, creativity and self acceptance in children, by exposing them to drag queens who read similar thematic books.
A drag artist from Drag Story Hour NYC reading to kids at an event. Parents told the New York Post that events at their children’s school often took place without parental consent
An artist shows off some of the books read to children at public school drag events. The books are mostly about gender fluid topics
“Through fun and fantastic educational experiences, our programs celebrate gender diversity and all forms of difference to build empathy and give children the confidence to express themselves the way they feel comfortable,” the website reads.
Images from the site show people dressed in bedazzled dresses, glittering wigs, and heavy eyeshadow, reading to young children in class, and even helping the kids apply makeup themselves.
The company has received $207,000 from taxpayers since 2018, data shows. $50,000 of that comes from the New York State Council on the Arts, and the other $157,000 from the NYC Department of Education, the Department of Youth and Community Development, the Department of Transportation, and Cultural Affairs.
The funds were provided by city council members, with $80,000 allocated for drag programs in 2022 alone — more than three times as much as in 2020 for drag programs.