Arlington Mayor Jim Ross took the stage at a recent “all-ages” drag festival across the street from City Hall, celebrating the event and promoting LGBTQ ideology.
As reported by The Dallas Express, the Arlington Pride festival held on June 10 included several hours of drag programming, playing to a crowd including scantily dressed people, individuals wearing dog masks, and children as young as toddlers.
Several of the performers repeatedly called attention to the presence of young children in the audience, with one instructing anyone under the age of 18 to stand up and not “be afraid.” Several other men dressed in drag went into the crowd and danced close to some of the children.
Later in the evening, Mayor Ross took the stage and told the crowd, “We have a little saying in Arlington that says, ‘We’re better together,'” per Texas Scorecard.
“And I don’t care what your skin color is, I don’t care what your age is, what your gender is, what your religious differences are, or your sexual preferences. We are all better together,” he continued.
Ross also presented a ‘Pride’ proclamation celebrating the LGBTQ movement.
Arlington provided The Dallas Express with a copy of the proclamation, in which the mayor asserted, “the LGBT community continues to work tirelessly for respect, equality and the very right to be recognized as the productive members of our community they are.”
Furthermore, Ross said, “Arlington is committed to protecting the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities to strengthen our city and to create a solid unified society where hatred and inequality of any group is unacceptable.”
He noted that the City had received a perfect score on LGBTQ issues from the Human Rights Campaign and that his LGBTQ Advisory Council would help co-host the Arlington Pride Festival.
The CEO of HELP Center for LGBT Health & Wellness, DeeJay Johannessen, said after the event, “We are thrilled to have experienced record-breaking attendance with the initial estimates of more than 4,000 guests at the 2023 Frank Kent Cadillac Arlington Pride Celebration,” per the Dallas Voice.
Highlighting the corporate sponsors and government participation, Johannessen continued, “We are grateful to Frank Kent Cadillac Arlington and our other sponsors, Mayor Jim Ross, the city of Arlington and the outstanding Arlington Police and firefighters for their unwavering support.”
Critics of the event highlighted the purportedly adult nature of its content, arguing that children should not be exposed to sexualized material.
Attendee Carlos Turcios shared videos of “female impersonators” dancing on stage in front of the crowd, which included many young children.
The Arlington “Kid Friendly” Pride Event was not kid friendly. The Arlington Mayor praised this! pic.twitter.com/S32uz103P3
— Carlos Turcios (@Carlos__Turcios) June 11, 2023
He added, “The Arlington ‘Kid Friendly’ Pride Event was not kid friendly. The Arlington Mayor praised this!”
Defenders of drag, meanwhile, argue that it is not sexual in nature and that performing as the opposite gender is a form of artistic expression.
One supporter, Rori Porter, has blamed opponents for sexualizing drag, claiming in a 2022 blog post, “Drag is as varied as any other art form, and the vast majority of it isn’t sexualized — particularly when the target audience isn’t adults. … The drag we share with children is exclusively wholesome.”
During the Arlington Pride event attended by The Dallas Express, Sapphire Davenport likewise defended the practice, adding, “Whether you like drag or not, it’s here.”
Some critics of the practice have claimed that drag presents a degrading caricature of women.
A pseudonymous feminist essayist called ‘Dr Em,’ for instance, argued, “Drag at its core is misogynistic; it is men portraying women as sexually objectified caricatures. Drag performers frequently reduce women to hyper sexualised, big breasted, big haired bimbos.”
“These men build their careers off of the tools of female oppression — gender stereotypes and sexual objectification — and re-entrench them in performances where they are portrayed as just a laugh and a lark,” Dr Em continued.
Laws recently passed in Texas may soon make events like Arlington Pride illegal. Senate Bill 12, currently awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature, would penalize business owners who “allow a sexually oriented performance to be presented on the premises in the presence of an individual younger than 18 years of age.”
