While drag queens and drag shows have been a part of American culture since the 1880s, the debut of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in 2009 brought drag further into mainstream culture than ever before. Now, queens like Trixie Mattel and the legendary RuPaul have become sensations, and drag shows are now much more common. 

However, many conservative Christian politicians and groups have begun to vilify drag queens, dubbing them “groomers,” a type of sexual predator who befriends children as to manipulate them into a sexual relationship. This spreads the narrative that drag queens are something to be feared. 

An example of this fear mongering is Christian influencers “Girl Defined” in their YouTube video titled “Drag Queens are a Mockery of God’s Design for Womanhood.” The caption of the video reads: “Why is it that full grown males dressing up as overdeveloped, highly-sexualized females are suddenly rising in popularity?? … Have we completely gone off the rales [sic] as a society when it comes to any sense of morality and male/female norms? How do we navigate this radical new world and stay true to God’s design?”

It’s important to note that drag is not inherently a sexual art form. Much like many other art forms, it can be. However, this sexuality is kept away from drag shows where children may be present. OutFront Kalamazoo hosts all-ages drag shows annually, which feature both professional drag queens and amateurs, some of which are middle and high school students. One of these performers is Loy Norrix junior Jazz Coston.

“It’s such a supportive, uplifting environment that really allows you to express the most fun and colorful parts of yourself,” said Coston. “The general notion that all queer people are groomers has been incredibly harmful for the greater community, but it is best to build our own bonds because we know who we are and we know to treat others with love and care.”

  To assume that a space in which a child performs to another child is inherently sexual is sheerly incorrect. As a frequent attendee of these events, the drag performances are consistently clean, wholesome and child-appropriate. 

Because of drag’s more racy aspects, presented in shows and movies like “Drag Race,” or John Waters’ “Pink Flamingos,” conservatives have made these more risque aspects out to be all that drag is, and that’s not the truth. If one person draws a sexual image, will that keep you from buying your child a pack of crayons?

Additionally, if one has a moral or personal issue with drag, be it religious, political, or personal, they don’t need to go to or take their children to a drag show. It is not, nor has it ever been, necessary to patronize a form of entertainment one does not enjoy. This shouldn’t translate into attempts to ban or restrict a drag queen’s right to perform – instead of restricting the performer’s free speech rights, simply do not attend. 

Ultimately, the allegations painting drag queens as sexual predators by the religious right is factually incorrect. It’s difficult to find a news story covering the sexual abuse of a child by a drag queen on the internet. It’s much easier to find stories surrounding sexual abuse from right-wing politicians, like former Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz, or church leaders, like the Mormon bishop John Goodrich. Gaetz has publicly disavowed drag after having a drag show at a Nevada Air Force in 2023. “HUGE VICTORY,” Gaetz wrote on X “Drag shows should not be taking place on military installations with taxpayer dollars PERIOD!” 

It’s hard not to find an association between the high rates of sexual abuse in the spaces accusing drag queens of the same crimes they are committing. It seems so clearly like a coverup, using queer and trans performers as a scapegoat to avert attention away from the actions of the religious right.

It’s also worth noting that, while drag intended for spaces where children may be is almost always inarguably child-friendly, children being exposed to sexual content in the media has been something constant for the years. In the early 2010s, Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” was the love of small girls everywhere, chanting “I smell like a minibar / DJ’s passed out in the yard / Barbies on the barbecue / This a hickey or a bruise?” from “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” or “Sex on the beach / We don’t mind sand in our stilettos” off of “California Gurls.” 

In the 2000s, Princess Superstar’s “Bad Babysitter,” was all the rage, little girls whooping “I’m a bad babysitter, got your boyfriend in my shower / Whoo! I’m making six bucks an hour!” And while some of this racy lyricism scandalized parents, there were no attempts to ban children from attending Perry’s “California Dreams” tour, or to remove the “Bad Babysitter” music video from MTV.

Likewise, men taking on glamorous female personas has been a largely undisputed part of American media for years. American film “Some Like It Hot” (1959) follows Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon as Joe and Jerry, two men, who, led by Marilyn Monroe as Sugar “Kane” Kowalczyk, learn how to disguise themselves as alluring female alter egos. “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993) followed Robin Williams as a divorced actor who adopts the persona of a female housekeeper to keep in contact with his children. 

“Some Like It Hot” is widely considered one of the greatest films of all time, while “Mrs. Doubtfire” is an American family classic. Men impersonating women has been a part of American culture for years – it only becomes an issue once these female impersonators openly identify themselves as members of the LGBTQ+ community.