Chesterfield Mayor Bob Nation said he had asked the event host to change the age requirements for “A Drag Queen Christmas,” a popular show that features contestants from the reality television series RuPaul’s Drag Race.
“We had law enforcement intelligence that indicated that the content of the performance would be, you know, maybe in violation of our ordinances, as well as state and federal guidelines,” Nation told Newsweek. “It was not meant to be a slight against the LGBTQ community, nor is it a slight on those who put on drag shows.”
The venue, The Factory, changed its website on Monday afternoon to state that Wednesday’s show was for over-18s only because of “mature content,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
It came after State Senator Bill Eigel, a Republican, sent Nation a letter saying the event may violate state and local statutes designed to protect minors from pornographic material. However, Nation noted that the change in age requirements hadn’t satisfied some in the community.
The show went on, despite both protesters and counter-protestors gathering outside the venue on Wednesday night.
“As I understand it, there was a sellout crowd there last night. There were no minors. There were protesters on both sides of the issue that were allowed to protest,” Nation said, adding that one arrest was made.
Fox 2 reported that some protesters carried signs saying “Not in Missouri” and “Save our children,” according to the station, while LGBTQ advocates waved rainbow flags and chanted: “Hate has to go.”
Some lawmakers have shared their concerns that the show is inappropriate for children, while others said the backlash was part of wider right-wing attacks on the LGBTQ community.
State Representative Ben Baker, also a Republican, tweeted on Wednesday that he had filed a bill that would ban “drag queen” events.
“There is no such thing as a family friendly ‘Drag Queen’ event,” Baker wrote. “As a Dad of 4 daughters I’m extremely concerned what is being allowed in public spaces accessible by minors.”
Missouri State Representative Adam Schnelting, a Republican, said the content of the same show in other states “has been shown to depict sexual acts and innuendos & is inappropriate for kids.”
He wrote on Facebook: “This is not a show for ‘all ages.’ Purposefully and explicitly stealing children’s innocence is unacceptable.”
Missouri Representative Keri Ingle, a Democrat, tweeted that the “right wing attacks on the LGBT community have lead directly to hate crimes” including mass shootings.
Nation told Newsweek that the decision to impose an age restriction was not done in response to the backlash against the show.
“It’s unfortunate that folks on both sides of the issue, especially the LGBTQ community are misinterpreting what was done and for what reason,” he said.
“The reason we asked for the age restriction was simply that we perceived that the content of the performance would be outside of our ordinance. What we did in the city of Chesterfield is not in response to this perceived wide-ranged attack on the LGBTQ community.”
Armed protesters recently gathered to protest a drag show in Texas following conservative attacks on the events.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security in a terrorism bulletin in late November warned of potential threats to the LGBTQ community and others, saying “lone offenders and small groups motivated by a range of ideological beliefs and/or personal grievances continue to pose a persistent and lethal threat.”
Newsweek reached out to The Factory and the show’s promoter for further comment.
Update 12/22/22, 11:23 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Chesterfield Mayor Bob Nation.
