Defense Secretary Orders No Drag Shows on Military Bases After Political Furor
1 Jun 2023
Military.com | By Rebecca Kheel and Thomas Novelly
A Defense Department-wide prohibition on drag shows on military bases has resulted in the cancellation of at least two events that were planned for Pride Month and previously approved by base officials, two defense officials confirmed to Military.com.
Shows at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and Ramstein Air Base in Germany scheduled for this month were canceled, participants and defense officials confirmed. The two officials told Military.com the cancellations were part of a direction from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that drag shows, which have become a target of the political right, not be hosted on bases.
The show at Nellis, the cancellation of which was first reported by NBC News, drew intense criticism from GOP politicians in recent weeks, including a letter conservative firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., sent to Austin calling the event an "outright attack on children." While a drag event at Ramstein last year faced similar attacks, the event this year had flown under the radar and the base's LGBT community had been eagerly anticipating a celebratory Pride Month.
"We're celebrating that we get to survive," Lane Fox, a member of the drag troupe that was slated to perform at a bar on Ramstein and whose partner is an active-duty service member, told Military.com on Thursday.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/06/01/defense-secretary-orders-no-drag-shows-military-bases-after-political-furor.html
