DeSantis debuts the limited-government solution to drag queen shows for children
Tiana Lowe
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One of the most impassioned internecine debates among conservative factions is that of the “drag queen story hour.” So-called national conservatives who are teleological in their approach say that traditionally deontological conservatives (those concerned with procedural liberalism and the fairness of rules, not solely outcomes) lack the might or the means to prevent minors from exposure to the obscenity prevalent in various drag queen events marketed to children.
Well, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) seems to be debuting the limited-government solution to the worst of the drag queen dilemma. Rather than completely reinvent the skeleton of liberal democracy and its protections of civil liberties, the Florida governor is simply exercising necessary conservative muscle: that is, aggressively enforcing existing law. The Sunshine State’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation has announced investigations into drag queen Christmas shows across the state, as well as issuing warnings to venues hosting future events “if minors are allowed to attend.”
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DeSantis is crucially not going after events, however obscene, attended solely by consenting adults. Luckily for all, but especially for national conservatives questioning whether this is a mere stunt from the de facto front-runner of the Republican presidential primary, Florida law does indeed protect children from gratuitous sexual performances.
Beyond broad federal protections of minors from obscenity, which the Supreme Court has determined is not protected by the First Amendment, the state of Florida specifies that it is illegal to “sell to a minor an admission ticket or pass or knowingly admit a minor for a monetary consideration to premises whereon there is exhibited a motion picture, exhibition, show, representation, or other presentation which, in whole or in part, depicts nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, sexual battery, bestiality, or sadomasochistic abuse and which is harmful to minors.”
Localities such as Miami-Dade have even narrower laws, barring minors from being on the premises of adult entertainment venues even when performances aren’t happening, and Jacksonville increased the minimum age for strip club performers from 18 to 21.
DeSantis is not only relying on criminal law, but also on Florida’s licensure laws. Furthermore, DeSantis has suggested that parents who bring their children to obscene drag events will be investigated by child protection services.
Now does DeSantis seem to be challenging drag queen “story hours” in particular? Not really, certainly to the chagrin of some NatCons. But as much of the middle of the country recognizes, there is a massive difference between a fully clothed drag queen reading Ibram X. Kendi (or whomever the leftist du jour is in San Francisco or Bushwick in New York) versus an overtly sexual performance by a drag queen, whom by definition has artificially enhanced secondary sexual characteristics. A social conservative may abhor exposing a child to the genderbending of drag — drag queens profess to perform femininity, but they are usually gay men, not trans women (biological men who identify as women in daily life) — but an ideological opposition pales in comparison to the literal danger of exposing a child to a striptease bordering on pornography.
The last two-and-a-half centuries of small “l” liberalism has served conservatives in America well enough that we have preserved religious liberty and enhanced the individual rights of all of God’s creatures amid world wars, the debasement of the rest of the West, and a civil war at home. By focusing on the real, physical danger posed to children in particular, DeSantis is operating within the framework of limited government without violating the First Amendment or the rights of consenting adults. Indeed, if he does crack down on drag shows exposing children to nudity or grotesque sexual performances, consider it a blessing of liberty.
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