Hundreds join pastor in praying against 'nasty' Christmas-themed drag show tour
A California pastor led a group of protesters in prayer against a touring Christmas-themed drag show earlier this month, condemning it as a perverse attempt to sexualize Christmas.
Angelo Frazier, who pastors RiverLakes Community Church in Bakersfield, joined with hundreds he invited from various churches on Dec. 17 to protest a performance of "A Drag Queen Christmas" at the city's Fox Theater, according to local KBAK.
The drag show, which boasts of being "the longest running drag tour in America," marked its ninth consecutive year by touring 38 cities this Christmas season, with its last performance scheduled for Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina.
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This year's show is hosted by a drag queen named "Miz Cracker" and features other drag queens from "RuPaul's Drag Race," according to Broadway SF. The description notes the "adult content" of the show is rife with "sexual language" and "naughty comedy" and is recommended for people over 18.
For Frazier and the others protesting the performance in Bakersfield by singing Christmas carols and praying outside the venue, the show was an inappropriate degradation and "perversion" of Christmas.
"It's naughty all the way through," Frazier told KBAK. "It's nasty, it's perversion. It's taking Christmas and turned it into a sexual show, that's what it is, and it's happening here in Bakersfield, California."
Frazier acknowledged that Christmas has become increasingly secularized over the years but blasted the "A Drag Queen Christmas" as "an abomination" for "sexualizing Christmas."
"I think it's wrong for kids, I think it's wrong for families, as a matter of fact, the message of Christmas is goodwill, great joy for all the people," Frazier continued. "This, what's happening here in Bakersfield, is perversion of Christmas."
Frazier said he felt "an obligation to say something about it" as a Christian.
Speaking to the gathering outside Fox Theater over a microphone, Frazier said, "The other side just wants to hate and do all these other things. We don't want to hate, we want to say there's a better way."
Frazier previously organized a similar protest outside Fox Theater in June, when tickets for the Christmas drag show first went on sale, according to the local outlet.
Last year's tour of "A Drag Queen Christmas" made headlines when footage emerged on social media that appeared to show small children attending a performance in Austin, Texas, that featured simulated sex, lewd dancing, sexually explicit stories, and a man with prosthetic breasts being spanked.
Video of a performance in Orlando last year also appeared to show minors in the audience.
Drag Fans, which puts on the event and is owned by Big Time Operator LLC, states on its website that "all ages [are] welcome unless otherwise noted on the marketing, the ticket or the venue website in each local city."
Earlier this month, state regulators in Florida and the Hyatt Regency Miami reached a settlement regarding a dispute about minors attending a performance of "A Drag Show Christmas" at the hotel last year, according to NBC News.
Officials with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation attempted to revoke the hotel's liquor license, arguing in March that the show "simulated sexual activity, and lewd, vulgar, and indecent displays."
The hotel agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and to prohibit minors from attending any performance at the hotel that "contains, depicts or simulates any activities" that violate Florida's lewdness statutes.
In November, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Florida's emergency request to enforce its "Protection of Children Act," which makes it a crime to permit a minor into an "adult live performance." A lower court ruled that the law was too vague and did not adequately define terms such as "lewd conduct."
