GOP lawmaker fumes that the Smithsonian is “targeting” children with drag shows at House hearing

Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) railed at Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III in a hearing earlier this week, accusing the museums of “targeting” children with drag shows.

“Mr. Secretary, are you familiar- do you know the number of drag shows that the Smithsonian has hosted in the last three years?” Bice asked at a hearing about the Smithsonian Institution held by the Committee on House Administration on Tuesday.

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He said that he did not, and she then claimed that there were six.

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“And four of those were targeted at children,” she said. “Going back to June 27 of 2020, an online event at the American Art Museum listed under the kids and families category: ‘A virtual drag queen story time, Ruth brings fun for the whole family as she reads classic nursery rhymes and tales for children.'”

She described a “virtual drag queen art bingo night.”

“My question is this, you know, how does hosting drag shows for children help the Smithsonian achieve their mission?” she asked. She claimed, without explaining what she meant, that there was “overly sexual material” at the events.

“I think it’s not appropriate to expose children to drag shows,” Bunch replied. “I’m surprised and I will look into that.”

She then pressed him on another event, and he said that it was for adults. But she wasn’t satisfied.

“That is a small part of whatever we do and the reality is that the Smithsonian is trying to make sure it embraces the totality of who we are as Americans,” Bunch replied. “But this is not a major part of what we do at all.”

Bice then said that it doesn’t matter that it’s not a major part of what the Smithsonian does and called drag shows “the targeting of children” and said it was “completely inappropriate” without explaining why she thinks wearing a wig or funny clothes in front of children is inappropriate.

A GOP press release that discussed the hearing referred to the drag shows as “the Left’s indoctrination of our children,” even though there’s no indication that parents were not involved in the events as well. LGBTQ+ and supportive parents often attend family-friendly drag shows with their kids so that they’re exposed to queer culture in an age-appropriate way.

Conservatives have been angry about drag performances for the past several years as part of their larger anti-LGBTQ+ backlash. They claim that wearing clothing not traditionally associated with one’s gender is a sexual act. Often, they share pictures of straight, cisgender performers acting inappropriately in front of children and falsely claim that they’re drag queens.

Last year, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was able to get a drag show on a U.S. Air Force base in Germany canceled by sending a letter to U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. The letter said that drag story hours have “men dressing up in clownish, garish costumes of women to read to children.”

He then issued a press release to take credit for canceling the event that no one was being forced to attend.

“The last thing parents serving their nation overseas should be worried about, particularly in a theater with heightened geopolitical tensions, is whether their children are being exposed to sexually charged content simply because they visited their local library,” Rubio said.