As parents and GOP politicians gear up across America to fight the sexualization of children in public schools, progressives and their moderate allies have responded with accusations of a) homophobia/transphobia or b) radicalism. In response to a Florida law banning teachers from instructing kids on sexuality below the age of third grade, for example, activists, educators, and media figures insisted on using the moniker “Don’t Say Gay” to distract from what the law actually banned. And moderates uncomfortable with the current culture wars insisted that calling those who insist on speaking to children about sexuality “groomers” is inappropriate and inaccurate.
But for some reason, new stories about, well, grooming just keep on coming up.
Most recently, according to Fox News, the Hempfield School District in Pennsylvania has apologized after the high school’s LGBT club hosted an after-school drag show. The Gay Sexuality Alliance Club, according to a local media source Lancaster Online, hosted the drag show featuring student performers and led by the teacher who heads up the club. The performance included “erotic dance routines in drag outfits.”
District officials, at least, had the decency to be horrified and released an apology.
“We are appalled at what took place and in no way condone this type of activity in our schools,” the Hempfield School District wrote. “Neither the dress of the invited guests nor the performance was appropriate in our school setting. We are taking the incident seriously in our ongoing investigation and follow-up actions. It is important to district administrators that the district has the trust and confidence of the community, and we realize than an incident such as this completely undermines that trust.”
Video of the show, which was posted by Libs of TikTok and subsequently went viral, revealed drag performers in stripper’s garb performing provocative dances—for students. The teacher who apparently spearheaded the event has been put on administrative leave, and the school promised parents “a thorough investigation” which would hold “those involved accountable, up to and including disciplinary action that is commensurate with any findings.”
Of course, LGBT activists will tell us that a) this hardly ever happens anywhere and b) there’s nothing wrong with stripper drag shows for kids anyways so what’s wrong with you, bigot? After all, this isn’t a solo story—it is one of many. Like last year, when a Florida school board member took elementary school students on a field trip to a gay bar and said she was “so honored” to do so. Or the teacher at a Wisconsin high school, who personally performed as a drag queen for his students at a Fine Arts Week and claims that he’s getting lots of support from community members for doing so.
