OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is fed up with left-wing cultural attempts to sexualize children, and he’s taking action.
On Wednesday, the GOP governor announced that his administration would be taking legal action against a Miami bar investigators say allowed minors and children in to watch drag queen shows involving scantily-clad performers.
According to documents obtained by The Daily Caller, his administration will file suit against the bar for allegedly allowing children to be exposed to sexually explicit content.
DeSantis, who is increasingly viewed as the presidential future of the Republican Party, talked about the complaint during a Wednesday speech in Tampa while speaking out against ongoing cultural attempts to sexualize children.
“It used to be – people have different views about what they want to do as adults – but it used to be, you know, the kids are off limits,” DeSantis said. “No one wanted to bring the kids into any of this stuff, and we’ve got to get back to that.”
In a tweet containing a video clip of his remarks, DeSantis wrote: “Florida stands with parents to protect children. Exposing children to inappropriate sexualized content is wrong and the state will hold accountable those establishments that transgress this clear boundary.”
Florida stands with parents to protect children. Exposing children to inappropriate sexualized content is wrong and the state will hold accountable those establishments that transgress this clear boundary. pic.twitter.com/HfmJOvdaPT
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) July 27, 2022
The Daily Caller noted further:
Florida is attempting to revoke the liquor license at R House, a Miami-area bar, through a complaint which details numerous incidents in which children were allegedly exposed to explicit sexual content there with the full knowledge of the bar. In one instance, a male dancer wearing G-string underwear stuffed with dollar bills with his buttocks fully exposed paraded a young girl aged about 3 to 5 through the restaurant while holding her hand, the complaint alleges.
In another instance, a presumably male dancer gyrated and pole-danced in revealing women’s clothing while waving dollar bills, the complaint alleges. R House was not only aware that children may be present during such performances, but they also offered a children’s menu for kids 12 and under.
“There was a video out of Dallas where they had all these young kids putting money in the underwear of these drag queens at a bar, and that’s totally unacceptable,” DeSantis said. “A week or two later there was video from a place that had similar stuff and then that was identified as being in Florida.”
“Having kids involved in this is wrong. That is not consistent with our law and policy in the state of Florida and it is a disturbing trend in our society to try to sexualize these young people,” he added. “That is not the way you look out for our children. You protect children, you do not expose them to things that are inappropriate.”
DeSantis’ communications director, Christina Pushaw, posted a “Not Safe For Work” video that prompted the Florida investigation.
Caution: Contains Disturbing Content
For those who don’t know, this is the video that prompted the investigation: NSFW https://t.co/89dBQjEzXf
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) July 27, 2022
DeSantis and the state’s GOP legislative majority have recently taken several steps both to protect children and empower their parents.
In April DeSantis signed a bill to strip Disney of its self-governing status. Disney has operated in a special district known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District since 1967, giving the company full self-governing rights and special tax privileges.
“I am not comfortable having one company with their own government and special privileges when that company has pledged itself to attack the parents in my state,” DeSantis said. “When that company has very high up people talking about injecting pansexual into programming for young kids, it’s wrong. Walt Disney would not want that.”
DeSantis encouraged Disney to “get back to the mission. Do what you did great. That’s why people love the company, and you’ve lost your way. Maybe this will be the wake-up call that they need to get back on track.”
DeSantis also signed into law Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” bill earlier this summer.
The law prohibits teachers from giving classroom instruction on “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade.
