Florida Attorney General declares war on adults-only holiday drag show

Attorney General James Uthmeier's frantic letter to Pensacola officials exposes the emptiness of the right’s anti-drag panic

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On December 23, the Saenger Theatre in Pensacola, Florida will host an adults-only show called “A Drag Queen Christmas,” in which performers will dazzle the audience with “a fabulous remix of classic Christmas hits” and “dazzling themed variety performances.” Sounds like a good time!

Naturally, conservatives and Christians and conservative Christians are up in arms about how a show like this is allowed to go on just before Christmas, as if the timing is inherently blasphemous. Even the attorney general is getting involved.

Since the show was first announced in early October, local Christian activists have been trying to get it shut down, acting like this is government endorsement of something anti-Christian:

“The city has a contract with the managing company and that clause in section 2.6 clearly gives the city the authority to review and cancel this type of event. So we are calling on them to honor that contract,” said Todd Leonard, president of Micah 6:8 Ministries of Pensacola Inc. “There was no vetting on the front end of this. In fact, if you go back the last three to four years of Christmas productions in November and December. They have all been wholesome events for the city and then all of a sudden this appears. So we believe it’s been intentional.”

Yes. It was almost certainly intentional. That’s how productions like this work.

But it’s not like the theater or the management company is going all in on drag for the holidays. Over the next month, the same theater is hosting “A Christmas Story: The Musical,” a soul music-themed “Chocolate Covered Christmas Carol,” the Pensacola Children’s Chorus singing carols, and the local ballet performing The Nutcracker. Just about everything is family-friendly, and the drag show is a one-night event specifically intended for adults.

There’s literally nothing for the Christians to complain about. The show may be adult-oriented, but there’s no nudity or obscenity. Some edgy jokes, perhaps, but the goal is just to have some fun. A theater is successful when it holds a variety of events that will bring in different audiences, and that’s all they seem to be doing here.

Even if none of that were true and the Christian claim had any merit, consider what would happen if the city canceled this event. They would face a legitimate First Amendment lawsuit.

What about the financial component? Isn’t the city using taxpayer money to put on this show? Only indirectly. The city pays a company called ASM Global $150,000 annually to fill up the theater’s calendar, and they put on about 110 shows a year. That amounts to $1,364 per show. One local activist, Carson Wilber, launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise that amount to offset the city’s costs; The fundraiser has already raised about $3,000. So that should nullify the argument that this is a waste of tax dollars.

If this was just back-and-forth between ignorant Christians who have nothing better to do and people who just appreciate art, maybe no one would care. But now Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is injecting himself into the controversy. The attention seeker sent a letter on November 7 to the Pensacola City Council urging them to “cancel this obscene, anti-religious drag show.”

His reasoning is about as ridiculous as you might think.

He says the show “openly mocks one of the most sacred holidays in the Christian faith”—which makes no sense given its description. They’re singing and parodying Christmas music, not burning Baby Jesus on a cross. Uthmeier justifies this claim by pointing out that one performer’s name is “Trinity,” which he says is a “not-so-subtle stab at the fundamental doctrine of Christianity.” As if the performer picked that name to target Christians. (In fact, the name is inspired by Carrie-Anne Moss’ character in The Matrix.)

What about the fact that this is an adult-only show? Uthmeier doesn’t care because there may be kids outside the theater:

What’s more, it will be playing in the middle of downtown at the same time as Pensacola’s family-friendly Winterfest. So, while Pensacola children are taking pictures with Santa, men dressed as garish women in demonic costumes will be engaged in obscene behavior mere feet away.

What the hell sort of argument is that? The theater isn’t open to kids that night. By Uthmeier’s logic, there shouldn’t be any bars in the city because children may be at a pizza place next door.

Uthmeier also echoed the argument that the city should override the management company’s decision, even though they have no good reason to do so.

Finally, he used the Christian complainers as proof that the city is divided on this matter—when the opposition is clearly limited to a handful of angry Christians no one purposely invites to Thanksgiving dinner:

As seen by the public outrage at recent city council meetings and online, Pensacola residents categorically reject this show’s content as a threat to the moral fabric and general welfare of the community. And given this obscene event’s proximity to Pensacola’s children enjoying Winterfest, the show poses pronounced threats to the health, safety, and welfare of children. Contrary to the City’s stated position to date, the terms of the contract provide the City unfettered discretion to review and approve content shown at the theatre. So there is no threat of a meaningful First Amendment challenge to the show’s cancellation.

And then, as if his arguments weren’t pathetic enough, Uthmeier argued that allowing the show to go on counts as “religious discrimination”:

Permitting a drag show at a city-owned theatre that openly disparages Christian beliefs is not only an affront to your Christian residents, but it may subject the City to further legal scrutiny. Such city-sanctioned religious mockery may amount to religious discrimination. It likewise could constitute a public nuisance. And were any of these deranged performers to expose themselves to the kids innocently enjoying Christmas festivities near the Saenger Theatre, the City could share in liability resulting from charges of obscenity or lewd or lascivious exhibition.

That last line has no basis in reality and the situation only exists in Uthmeier’s deranged fantasies.

He ended his letter with this admonition: “Failure to stop this sacrilege and misuse of public funds raises serious concerns about the city’s stewardship of public property. Do the right thing.”

If that sounds more like a cry for publicity and not a real legal threat, you’d be right. And that’s how the city council saw it too, because even those officials just dismissed everything Uthmeier said:

“With all due respect to the Attorney General’s office, this was an unsolicited opinion,” councilman Charles Bare said. “We did not ask for a legal opinion from this person, and, as far as I am concerned, this is a personal opinion written on government letterhead wasting taxpayer dollars.”

…

After review on Monday, several city councilors said they read it as more of a personal opinion.

“It seems to be not a legal opinion and more of a personal opinion,” said councilman Casey Jones. “It doesn’t seem like there are any pertinent case files mentioned in the letter.”

“I’ve also looked at this, I guess with my attorney hat on,” Vice President of Pensacola City Council Allison Patton said. “I think there was a passing reference to the First Amendment in this letter, which strikes me as a less than thorough vetting of this incident.”

The council members—who don’t seem eager to get in the middle of this at all—seemed far more concerned about the legal challenges that would occur if they canceled the show than if they allowed it to continue.

So the city council called Uthmeier’s bluff. They said they’d at least consider canceling the show if the state would pay their impending legal bills.

Uthmeier’s response? Silence.

WEAR News asked the attorney general both Friday and Monday if they would cover legal fees related to the show’s cancellation and have not gotten a response.

None of this is surprising. After all, Uthmeier is in the same job once held by Attorney General Pam Bondi. He was previously chief of staff to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Substance has never been a prerequisite for his government jobs. All that matters is an ability to pretend anything that bothers conservatives is illegal and throwing the full weight of your office against it, even if that has no basis in the law.

This manufactured controversy says far more about the insecurity of Florida’s conservatives than it does about drag performers singing Christmas songs. There’s nothing illegal, inappropriate, or even unusual in this adults-only show. But that’s not going to stop Republicans from treating drag like it’s a threat to kids. They don’t give a damn about children; Republicans ignore climate change and want guns everywhere. They just can’t handle openly queer people who refuse to be silent.

No group of Christians, no matter how vocal, should have the power to dictate what kind of art is allowable in public spaces. And if something as tame as a Christmas-themed drag show is labeled obscene or illegal, you can bet these people won’t stop there.

Uthmeier’s conduct is the only thing that’s obscene and Florida deserves so much better than his cheap theater.

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