Franklin Graham Lauds Ron DeSantis for Sanctioning Kids’ Drag Queen Show

Ron DeSantis
AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

Prominent evangelical pastor Franklin Graham has praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for smacking down a Hyatt Regency hotel that hosted a drag queen show with kids present.

“Governor Ron DeSantis doesn’t mess around,” Rev. Graham wrote Thursday on Facebook.

“He’s revoking the liquor license of a major Miami hotel because they hosted a drag queen show with children present, even after being warned,” Graham told his 10 million followers.

“A Drag Queen Christmas” has been described as a holiday-themed drag show featuring cross-dressers from the reality show “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The show reportedly tours in 36 different cities.

In its justification for revoking the Hyatt Regency Miami’s alcohol license, the governor’s office stated: “Sexually explicit content is not appropriate to display to children and doing so violates Florida law. Governor DeSantis stands up for the innocence of children in the classroom and throughout Florida.”

File/Host drag queen Athena Dion performs for guests during a Drag Brunch at R House Wynwood in Miami, Florida, on Saturday, April 9, 2022. (Daniel A. Varela/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty)

On Tuesday, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation filed a 17-page administrative complaint against the show’s venue, the James L. Knight Center, which is affiliated with Hyatt.

The Department charged the Miami venue with several violations, including a prohibition of “lascivious exhibition” before people younger than 16. The show allowed minors to enter the venue as long as they were accompanied by an adult.

Prior to the performance of the show, regulators had already warned performance organizers to change how they marketed the show before it went live, since a sign at ticket-sellers read “all ages welcome.”

A letter accompanying the complaint said the marketers had put on a performance that constitutes “public nuisances, lewd activity, and disorderly conduct” in the presence of minors.

“It’s so refreshing to see a leader who is willing to stand up for what is right! May God bless and help him as he leads this state,” Graham said in his post.

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