‘Abhorrent’ drag queen cabaret for babies features men in heels and bondage gear
‘Our cabaret, drinks and dancing means you can bring your baby and still be home for bedtime’
A DRAG queen cabaret event for babies has been condemned as “abhorrent” by Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington, who now faces online accusations of being transphobic.
The Cabababarave entertainment company is hosting a number of events intended for infants and their parents.
Footage has emerged of one show featuring a man dancing in knee-high boots and a bondage harness, and another doing a handstand in a thong.
Abbington, 49, protested online that if anyone believed it appropriate for children there must be something “fundamentally wrong” with them.
Responding on Twitter to charges of transphobia, she suggested that people defending “a semi-naked man in thighhigh boots dancing in a highly sexualised way” in front of babies “tells me everything I need to know about where society is heading”.
A Cabababarave advertisement describes the show as a “cabaret, drinks and dancing but one you can bring your baby to and still be home for bedtime”.
There are several sold-out dates for performances at London venues.
Footage from a recent event, understood to have taken place in south London, shows several scantily clad male performers in high heels, while parents with babies watch from floor mats. One performer is seen in the footage dancing in a suspended harness.
Cabababarave said the shows are “more aimed at the parents” and babies are unable to grasp the content of their performances, adding that “as cabaret professionals, each of our shows are specifically curated to the audiences advertised”.
It said: “Cinemas all over the country have ‘parent and baby showings’ weekly of movies of all ratings.
“Many other ‘adult-led events’ are designed to simply bring your baby along to… it should go without saying babies aren’t able to grasp the plot of an intricate thought-provoking movie … or comment on the latest National Portrait Gallery exhibition.
“Cabaret is a fantastic medium to showcase a diverse and inclusive array of performance talent. A cabaret without drag, trans and non-binary performers is not a true portrayal of the art form and its incredible history.”