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'The man we need': Ron DeSantis hailed for wanting probe into parents who take children to drag shows

'That is totally inappropriate. That is not something children should be exposed to,' DeSantis said of the drag queens and children video

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered Child Protective Services to investigate parents who take their children to the drag shows. DeSantis' comments came after the viral videos of the Dallas' 'Drag Your Kids to Pride' event sparked outrage among the conservatives and the right-wing. In the videos drag performers danced and walked down the aisle in the center of the room and could be seen taking money from children.

During a news conference on Wednesday, June 8, DeSantis said that he has asked his people to look into the idea. “We have child protective statutes on the books. We have laws against child endangerment.” “It used to be kids would be off-limits. Used to be everybody agreed with that,” DeSantis continued. “Now it just seems like there’s a concerted effort to be exposing kids more and more to things that are not age-appropriate.” "That is totally inappropriate. That is not something children should be exposed to," DeSantis said of the video. "And so, we probably, we may have the ability to deal with something like that if something like that happens," DeSantis said.

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The debate over whether children should be permitted to watch drag shows began after an event that happened at Dallas bar Mr. Misster on Saturday, June 4. During the show children also walked with the drag dancers down the aisle. Multiple pictures and images were shared on Twitter from the event and several children could be seen sitting in the middle of a dance floor. In front of the children stands a Drag Queen with a sign behind him that reads, “it’s not gonna lick itself!”

The event caused outrage among people and protesters chanted "Christ Is King" outside the venue of the show "Drag Your Kids To Pride" and some carried signs that read “Stop grooming the kids” and “Stop exploiting kids,” and similar variations. The show brought a clash between anti-LGBTQ+ right-wing protesters, parents, attendees of the event, and police on Saturday, June 4 afternoon.

DeSantis is not the only one thinking of clamping down on this issue. On June 6, Texas state Rep Bryan Slaton (R) announced that he intends to file a bill during the state legislature’s upcoming session that would ban drag shows in the presence of minors.“Drag shows are no place for a child,” the Republican lawmaker wrote on Twitter. “I would never take my children to a drag show and I know Speaker Dade Phelan and my Republican colleagues wouldn’t either.” In the statement, Slaton said that the proposed bill was a response to “news stories and videos over the weekend in which underage Texas children were subjected to inappropriate sexual content by adults.”

DeSantis' comments were followed by other Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, also argued that all drag shows should be “illegal” for minors.

Republican state representatives in Texas and Florida went as far as announcing plans to propose legislation, which would prevent children from attending the events. "I will be proposing Legislation to charge w/ a Felony & terminate the parental rights of any adult who brings a child to these perverted sex shows aimed at FL kids," Florida Rep. Anthony Sabatini tweeted. "When will the sexualization of children stop?"

Some opponents disagreed with the criticism of drag shows and argued that drag shows are “supportive environments” for LGBTQ youths to express themselves. Florida Rep. Carlos Smith, a gay Democrat who has previously been critical of DeSantis' measures concerning LGBTQ Floridians, wrote on Twitter that he and his husband had hired a drag queen to perform in front of children at their wedding. "Why doesn’t tough guy #DeSantis come arrest us?" Smith tweeted. "We’ll be waiting. Our drag queens ain’t going nowhere! Happy #Pride"

However, while dissenters were plenty, DeSantis also found support in a lot of people on social media. One wrote he'd love to DeSantis as VP: "Love desantis. Would love trump and him together. I feel DeSantis has not just talked to talk he’s done the walk he is made some pretty big changes for the better in his state. I would gladly support him for a vice president." One had a warning for him, "The problem with that is, CPS is often suspected of child trafficking themselves. Once again, a govt agency investigating could do more harm. He needs to choose carefully who should do the investigating!" A third agreed with him saying: "He is right!! That is perversion on a grand scale!" Another wrote, " Trump needs to pass the torch. This is the man we need. "

The law will be effective in July, as DeSantis at June 8's news conference. "Part of the reason why we did the, you know, we fought the fight with parents' rights and education is because there's a movement to inject these things like gender ideology in elementary schools even," DeSantis said. "And my view is, our schools need to be teaching these kids to read and write and add and subtract and do the things, what is supposed to be done in school."