Miami Herald editorial board defends drag queen shows for kids, Twitter calls out 'insanity'

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 26: Drag queen "Pickle" reads from a book during the Drag Queen Story Hour program at the West Valley Regional Branch Library on July 26, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Drag Queen Story Hour is a program featuring drag queens reading stories to children at libraries, schools, and bookstores in cities across the nation.  ((Photo by David McNew/Getty Images))

On Thursday, the Miami Herald editorial board published a piece arguing that if Republicans in Florida are so preoccupied with safeguarding parental rights, then they shouldn’t have any issue with parents taking their little children to drag shows. 

"In the same week that the Jan. 6 committee unveiled its findings on the attack against American democracy, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and others were more preoccupied with children attending a drag show in Dallas, Texas," the board claimed.

"And now, the party of parental rights wants state entities to investigate parents who take their children to drag shows," it added. 

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Again, the point of the piece was to turn the logic of Governor DeSantis’ Parental Rights in Education bill, – labeled the "Don’t Say Gay Bill" by the left – back on to the GOP. 

The Miami Herald editorial board slammed Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., for not respecting parental rights to take their kids to drag queen performances. ( Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The editorial board wrote, "Republicans used the ‘parents know best’ line to pass the ‘Don’t say gay’ bill, which banned instructions in K-3 public school classrooms about sexual orientation and gender identity. They said parents, not teachers, should explain to their children what LGBTQ means."

As such the board asked, "Wouldn’t bringing their child to a drag show qualify as parents exercising that autonomy? Republicans, your hypocrisy is showing."

Though as the board acknowledged in its piece, DeSantis invoked child-endangerment laws in his consideration of using the government to keep kids from drag shows. They quoted him, saying, "I’ve asked my folks to look — I mean, we have child-protective statutes on the books. We have laws against child endangerment. And that is totally inappropriate. That is not something that children should be exposed to."

Conservatives on Twitter hounded the piece, which was also published in the Orlando Sentinel, arguing that there’s no right for parents to expose children to harmful sexual content. 

Conservative commentator Erielle Davidson mocked the out-of-touch elitist mindset that contributed to such an argument. "It’s like the laptop class never interacts with people outside the laptop class," she tweeted.

The Rubin Report host Dave Rubin mocked the piece with a sarcastic tweet, writing, "’Dave surely you aren’t being seriously when you say Leftism is a mental disorder?’"

Members and supporters of the LGBTQ community attend the "Say Gay Anyway" rally in Miami Beach, Florida on March 13, 2022. - Florida's state senate on March 8 passed a controversial bill banning lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools, a step that critics complain will hurt the LGBTQ community. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Mediaite contributing editor Caleb Howe tweeted, "lol the slapped together editorial angles these days, I swear they come from rearranging refrigerator magnet words."

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Conservative writer Ellen Carmichael pointed out the irony in the piece, tweeting, "The same set who insist society has an inherent interest in pushing the ‘you are an irredeemable bigot’ curriculum on elementary school kids are suddenly all for parental rights when it comes to bringing kids to drag performances."

Claremont Institute senior fellow David Reaboi tweeted, "Keep going, libs. Keep going," seemingly encouraging the board to continue revealing its left-wing slant.

Florida Republican Party vice chairman Christian Ziegler tweeted, "@orlandosentinel weighing-in in a weird way. Citizens overwhelmingly do not want this insanity."

Author Chad Felix Greene rebutted the editorial board’s argument, tweeting, "Parental choice still requires following the law and if the law is inadequate, it's the job of responsible citizens to advocate for changes."

 PBS made the decision to broadcast a children’s show featuring a drag queen singing, dancing, and reading a book to an intended audience of 3 to 8 year-olds. 

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"Parents shouldn't be able to ignore laws restricting access to activities due to their adult nature," he added.