A group of parents from Newton North High School, Massachusetts are pleading to cancel drag queen Missy Steak's performance in a school event for their children Friday as part of the LGBTQ Awareness Day activity, or else these parents will reportedly hold a protest at Newton Centre Green Thursday at 5:30 to 6:30 in the evening.
The drag queen will be given 30 minutes of the program to sing and talk to high school students in celebration of the Transgender Bisexual Gay and Lesbian Awareness Day.
"If it were up to me, I'd say, 'Don't do this event. This performance is really forcing the hand of parents to either kind of do this draconian prohibition or say to their kids, 'alright you can go,' and hope for the best," Henry Barbaro, one of the parents, told NBC10 Boston.
Barbaro stated further that even in the best-case scenario, a drag performer should not outdo their children's class time, especially that the performance is "not age-appropriate" because it is "adult entertainment." He even questioned why the school cannot just choose other things to do that are less sexual, wholesome and more student-friendly.
Students Selected the Performance
Interim Superintendent of the school Dr. Kathleen Smith released a statement to Fox News to defend the said event, specifying that the performance is the choice of the students.
"Students selected this specific performance because drag is a performance art that is often a part of LGBTQ+ events. While there are many different types of drag performances, this particular performance is appropriate for the teenage audience. Like many of the performances in our schools, this performance seeks to deliver an important message - a message of kindness, inclusivity, and positivity - in a way that engages the teen audience," Smith emphasized.
She continued expressing the school's support for their LGBTQ+ students, who they want to build awareness and celebrate their identities.
NBC10 Boston reached out to Missy Steak and spoke about the parents' planned protest. The drag queen informed the news outlet that the parents need not worry about anything as the performer will not be doing anything age-appropriate or sexual. It will be a "fun, art and clownery" sing and dance performance, along with some reading, with the aim to bring fun to the students.
However, Missy Steak has a history of controversial rhetoric during her performances.
Read Also: Parents Furious NYC Spent Over $200K for Drag Queen Shows in Schools
Government Working Hard for a 'Drag Ban'
Drag performances in school events had made some noises for the past years and have become a breaking point in the battle for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.
Lawmakers in over a dozen states like Arizona, Texas, Kentucky and Montana, have all crafted laws to ban these performances not only in school but also in public places where minors can watch.
In Tennessee, a law, which was labeled as the "drag ban," was passed restricting "adult cabaret performances in public or in the presence of children, and bans them from occurring within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks, or places of worship," according to NPR. However, it was temporarily "blocked" by the court, where a judge argued that the bill is going to be a violation of the First Amendment.
In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the government wants to ban story hours at libraries with drag queens as guests and readers.
Newton North High School seems to be near major controversies as parents previously complained about a play to which the school exclusively casted "persons of color."
Parents Defending Education (PDE) filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which will be investigating the local school district, after receiving a letter about an alleged student theater production that limited participation to students of color.
Related Article:Protesters and Parents Clash Outside 'Drag The Kids to Pride' Event in Dallas, Texas
