Across the country, legislators from Arizona to Tennessee are debating state laws that would seek to ban or strongly limit drag shows, drag queen story hours at public libraries, and other forms of drag performance. Advocates of these bans claim that the bills are meant to protect children from an assumed threat to children posed by such performances.
One such advocate is a Justine Wadsack, a Republican Arizona state senator, who claims that banning drag performances is a way of preventing "sexualization and indoctrination of children."
Although drag performances are often not sexual in nature and that the tradition of drag dates back to the time of Shakespeare, some of these bans, if passed, would carry significant fines or even prison time (up to 10 years in some states) for any performers found in violation. Yes, this is a universe where the prison time for a drag queen story hour could be longer than for someone found guilty of actual child abuse.
Amid this controversy, one TikTok mom decided to "go undercover" and take her young daughters to a drag brunch to reveal the "shocking truth" of what these shows actually expose children to. So brave!
Going 'undercover' in sparkles.
Tianna, a Canadian mom who goes by @thecuratedlobe on TikTok, posted a tongue-in-cheek video about her recent trip to a drag brunch. First, she and her daughters had to get themselves dressed in sparkles and with some makeup so they could blend in. Oh no, everyone knows that little kids hate having to wear glitter and sparkles! No little kids ever want to play princess, after all. The trauma of the drag show really started before they left the house, didn't it?
The drag performance was at a lovely restaurant on a Sunday morning — clearly the ideal time and location for a shocking activity. Thankfully for Tianna, there appeared to be both delicious drinks and tasty food to help ease the trauma of the experience!
The drag performers soon arrived and interacted with the kids.
A drag brunch usually features good food and a variety of lip-synced performances from the drag queens. This appears to be exactly the "shocking" findings of this mom, who not only brought her daughters, but gave them money so that they could help tip the performers (pro-tip: always bring cash to a drag show.).
It's worth nothing here that while drag performers are often dressed in over-the-top (and frequently fabulous) costumes that may include wigs, fake breasts, and wild makeup, this isn't a burlesque show or something that involves stripping.
Those things exist, too, but not usually on a Sunday morning at an all-ages show. Drag performances that are more racy are advertised as such and may have age limits on them already, no legislation required.
The kids soon had their moment to shine.
Now, here is where the real trauma of bringing kids to a drug brunch began for mom Tianna. The drag performers invited some of the young fans to the floor and had a mini dance competition for them. The song they chose? "Baby Shark."
The horror! As this TikTok mom noted, everyone knows that "Baby Shark" is so last year. Imagine, having kids dance to a song that used to be cool. No doubt they'll be traumatized forever.
Thankfully, at least one of the people in the comments was quick to reach out with support, exclaiming: "Love this !!!! I know a good psychiatrist to help the kids after suffering all this trauma. you, as a mom, ROCK!"
Of course, there had to be critics, too.
While the vast majority of the comments on the original video, which has had over 2.6 million views, were supportive and saw the innocent fun of a drag brunch, there always has to be someone being loud and wrong on the internet.
In addition to someone claiming this was "child abuse," and another saying, "Drag shows for kids = immoral and grooming the authorities should be taking these peoples kids away," there was also one aspiring politician who popped up in the comments to make a false equivalency between a drag brunch and a strip club.
Tianna needed less than six seconds of a response video to point out how dumb this argument is. We love an efficient clap back!
This video did expose one important truth: We really want to go to a drag brunch soon.
