The Mr. Misster cocktail lounge on Cedar Springs Road holds a champagne drag bunch every Saturday, but their latest invited families and their children for a "family friendly" show called "Drag the Kids to Pride," according to the event's ticket page.
Some people, however, saw the gathering as an inappropriate place for children and decided they had parental rights. Some got in to take videos of the show for their social media followers and eventually turned the space into a protest where police had to be called to the scene as some prominent, right-wing provocateurs showed up to heckle the event and the dancers as they tried to leave.
The show included drag dancers performing dance routines to songs by Dua Lipa and taking dollar bills from the crowd, including from some children, based on videos taken of the event before the protests started to grow.
According to a statement released by the Mr. Misster cocktail lounge, the event is normally held on Saturday mornings for residents 21 and older, but this event was designed "with some of our major community partners to host a special Pride Drag Brunch for all guests, including guests that couldn't normally attend our regular show because of the drinking age restriction, to raise money for a local LGBTQ+ youth organization."Here’s a full performance from todays “Drag Your Kids To Pride” event—
— Tayler Hansen 🇺🇸 (@TaylerUSA) June 5, 2022
In this video the drag queen
(Albert Estrada) is dancing to
“Let’s Get Physical” by Dua Lipa. pic.twitter.com/QmXEnpRkyx
At some point during the event, protesters started gathering outside the lounge. Online conservative commentator John Doyle approached the line outside of the event with some supporters including one in a Make America Great Again hat with a bullhorn and started by shouting, "I only have one question: Why do you want to put an ax wound between your son's leg?"
Doyle, who has called Pride Month "child abuse" in videos on his YouTube show Heck Off, Commie!, spouted off some bizarre political claims until one mother started shouting "You're scaring children! Shut the fuck up!"
"You must repent," Doyle says. "I wonder if the mama bear instinct is gonna come out in three years when the mainstream Democrat Party platform is they wanna rape your kid and they're all gonna think it's one big, smug little joke."
Conservative troll Alex Stein, who's recently gone viral for showing up at City Council meetings to rap about wearing masks and the conflict in Ukraine, is seen in another video filming himself as employees of the lounge try to get him to leave. Stein called the event "the most evil event I have ever seen in my entire life" on his Facebook account.
"They're denying me entry!" Stein says while filming a livestream on his phone. "They're being bigoted! I can't believe they're not letting me in a gay bar. I thought you were inclusive?"
Stein also followed one of the performers to her car in a video titled, "Asking the drag queen how she feels for exploiting little children?" Stein is seen in the video screaming at her, "Do you like dancing for little children? You don't think that's disgusting? You should be ashamed of yourself."Wow— @alexstein99 was just denied entry to the Kids Drag Show and assaulted multiple times. pic.twitter.com/hZanodeIYa
— Tayler Hansen 🇺🇸 (@TaylerUSA) June 4, 2022
Conservative pundits helped make videos and stories of the gathering go viral across social media. Texas Rep. Bryan Slaton released a statement on Monday in response to the reports vowing to file a bill in the state House of Representatives that would "ban drag shows in the presence of minors in Texas" at the state of the next session. (For more on Slaton and reaction to his proposal, see Simone Carter's story in news.)Asking the drag queen how she feels for exploiting little children? pic.twitter.com/Jlho6qL1e2
— Alex Stein #99 (@alexstein99) June 4, 2022
A representative of Mr. Misster wrote in their statement that the event was allowed to continue even with the presence of protesters.
"We had a group of protesters outside yelling homophobic threats, transphobic remarks and vile accusations at these children and parents," the statement reads. "It is so sad to see that in 2022, there are people that still want to protests [sic] others celebrating who they are but our staff and wonderful officers helped keep us safe and the protestors at bay."
The lounge also wrote in its statement that police "escorted families safely to their cars after the event was over because protestors were yelling at kids and throwing various things.
"We are sad to see that an event that was supposed to be a moment of pride for these LGBTQ+ families and their children is being interpreted as anything other than what it was: a family friendly event," said Mr. Misster's statement.
