Will state go after Fort Lauderdale site for show?
The state filed a six-count legal complaint against the Orlando Philharmonic Foundation last week for hosting “A Drag Queen Christmas” and accusing it of “exposing minor children to lewd sexual acts.”
The penalty: The venue might lose its state-issued liquor license.
Unresolved is whether the Broward Center of the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale might also be subjected to the same potential fate, jeopardizing alcoholic beverage sales.
The drag show stopped in Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 26, triggering an investigation the very next day after state officials fielded complaints that the “sexually explicit” performance was marketed to children.
The show, on a national tour, stopped in Orlando on Dec. 28.
Before the show went on stage in Orlando, the state sent a warning to the Orlando Philharmonic Foundation warning that “sexually explicit drag show performances constitute public nuisances, lewd activity and disorderly conduct when minors are in attendance” and warned that the venue would be “subject to penalties up to and including revocation” of its liquor and tobacco license if it failed to keep minors out of the show. Images released in the complaint show adults bringing children into the venue. There also was a sign at the entrance that advised attendees of potentially unsuitable content for those under the age of 18, according to the complaint.
So far, the state Department of Business Regulation — the DeSantis administration agency that took action against The Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation, which oversees the venue, The Plaza Live — hasn’t taken any action against either the Broward Center or the James L. Knight Center in Miami, both of which hosted the show.
As of Monday, “the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation, Inc. is the only venue that contracted with Big Time Operator, LLC d/b/a ‘Drag Fans’ to be served an administrative complaint,” Beth N. Pannell, director of communications at the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, said via email.
“Other investigations are ongoing and DBPR does not comment on the status of any active investigations,” she said.
Reviewing the complaint
In a joint statement, the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation’s board of directors said The Plaza Live has hosted drag performances for eight consecutive years and described the venue to be a “welcoming and inclusive establishment that operates in good faith and compliance with all applicable laws.”
“That includes respecting the rights of parents to decide what content is or is not appropriate for their own children,” the statement said. “... We have just been made aware of this administrative complaint and are working with our legal team to evaluate and respond appropriately.”
Bob Murray, general manager of the James L. Knight Center, said by email that, “We have not received any communications from the FL DPBR” about the matter.
Kelley Shanley, president and CEO of the Broward Center, couldn’t be reached for comment via voicemail or email messages. Its media relations department said as of Monday, “the Broward Center has not been contacted by state officials regarding this matter.”
Barbra Stern, chair of the board for Broward Center for the Performing Arts, declined to comment Monday.
In December, she told the South Florida Sun Sentinel the wording promoting the show was changed early on after some people on social media criticized the show as inappropriate for children.
“Everyone knows a drag show is going to have humor and costumes,” Stern said at the time. “And it’s supposed to be a parent’s choice whether they bring their child. We had protocols in place. We had staff checking ID. Some teenagers were turned away. I know there were children there who came with their parents.”
Looking ahead
Heather Moraitis, a Republican and former city commissioner in Fort Lauderdale, whose husband, George, is a former state representative and former county Republican chairman, said she didn’t think the Broward Center would face the same action as The Plaza Live.
“I don’t believe Broward Center is next,” she said. “I do believe they did their due diligence. They did allow minors to attend, but only if they were accompanied by a parent.”
A similar fate shouldn’t befall Broward Center as its Orlando counterpart, Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Steve Glassman said. “Broward Center posted notices suggesting adults accompany people 18 years and younger,” Glassman said.
The state’s action against the Orlando venue was first reported by the conservative website The Floridian.
In a statement, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin said the venue “violated Florida statutes,” and therefore “the Department is revoking the venue’s license for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.”
According to Pannell, the venue can continue to sell alcohol “until final action is taken by the agency in accordance with Florida’s Administrative Procedure Act.”
Glassman, a retired English teacher and avid patron of the arts, says he is unsettled by the state crackdown on drag shows.
“I do find the whole situation sad and infuriating at the same time,” he said. “Drag is an art. These are artists. It’s not about the sexualization of children. It’s about art.”
Moraitis said Florida lawmakers should classify drag shows as “adult entertainment, similar to strip clubs,” which she said some other states are considering. “I would support that,” she said. “I hope our Legislature looks at that.” Glassman disagrees. “This whole culture war attack is sad for our state,” he said. “I don’t know what road we’re heading down, but I don’t think it’s the right path. We’re going to censor the arts. We’re going to ban books. It’s totally Orwellian. I used to teach ‘1984’ years ago when I was an English teacher. That’s what this is.”
The 1949 novel by English writer George Orwell coined the term Big Brother, the all-seeing leader of a totalitarian nation who controls every aspect of people’s lives.
Some conservative activists called on the state to investigate after accusing the show of exposing children to sexually explicit content. Some conservative protesters accused the show of pedophilia or “grooming,” an allegation often baselessly directed at LGBTQ people to imply a link between them and cases of child abuse.
LGBTQ activists say the country has seen a rise in anti-LGBTQ violence, fueled, in part, by policies advanced by Republican lawmakers, like the Parental Rights in Education law, known to critics as the “don’t say gay” bill, which prohibits the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools up to the third grade or “in a manner that is not age-appropriate” for students in higher grades.
The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform said social media content alleging that members of the LGBTQ community were “groomers” skyrocketed by more than 400% last year after the passage of the bill.
Reacting to the news of the state action against Plaza Live, former Democratic lawmaker and LGBTQ activist Carlos Guillermo Smith on social media accused the governor’s office of overstepping its authority.
“Ron DeSantis’ formal action to revoke Plaza Live’s liquor license for hosting Drag Queen Christmas is an extreme abuse of regulatory power that can have devastating economic consequences for this local business,” he said. “Why can’t parents decide what’s appropriate for their own kids?”