The Texas Trust CU Theatre Grand Prairie hosted its eighth annual A Drag Queen Christmas event, hosted by drag queen Nina West.
But the show was not just inside the theater.
Protests erupted outside the Texas Trust CU Theatre as members from Protect Texas Kids and alleged members from the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, traded words.
Armed members of the gun club, which describes itself as “anti-fascist,” confronted the members of Protect Texas Kids, hurled expletives at them, and physically got very close to the protesters.
That necessitated police — including some in tactical gear — to keep the two groups separate.
The Antifa-style group appears to have held a planning session the day before the event, specifically with the goal of disrupting the protests in mind.
Despite the response from local law enforcement, it does not appear that state or federal law enforcement considered the advance planning and intimidation by these armed groups to be worthy of intervention.
Protect Texas Kids protested against the drag show in Grand Prairie because of the likelihood that children would be attending, according to the executive director of the organization, Kelly Neidert.
“We’re out here today because this is an all-ages drag show that’s currently touring the U.S.,” Neidert said, speaking to The Dallas Express.
“We saw pictures posted online from previous shows, very explicit disgusting shows. We’ve also seen pictures and videos of children inside of other locations, so we know that there are going to be kids here and that’s not okay with us. We’re just here to protest that,” Neidert explained to The Dallas Express.
Neidert told The Dallas Express that she expects the protest to garner more news coverage.
“This is going to make the news; it’s going to go on Twitter, and people are going to see that this theater right here actually allowed this. They’re not going to be happy,” she said.
“We want to raise awareness, and we want to get these people driving in to see our signs and rethink what they’re doing. We really just want to expose what’s going on and hope that you know this contributes to eventually getting these shows banned.”
The Dallas Express did reach out to the counter-protesting group dressed in all black, some of whom were carrying rifles.
When asked for comment, the response of one of the individuals — who was holding a rifle and had his face covered by a mask — was to hurl an expletive.
The Dallas Express did speak to an individual who identifies as queer, who did not come to attend the drag performance but came to support the show.
Corey Clements, speaking to The Dallas Express, said: “I thought it was prudent to show up. It’s a frustrating situation; I’d rather be at home with my family. But you know, I feel like if we let people showing up with guns start to control the discourse, they will show up to all these events. That’s really not healthy for the country, and it really isn’t the way we’re supposed to hash out our differences.”
Throughout the evening, event attendees flooded the theater’s parking lot with looks of shock and amazement on their faces.
The Dallas Express reached out to drag queen host Nina West and the Texas Trust CU Theatre for comment and additional information but had not received any response at the time of publication.