Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has sent a letter to the Pensacola City Council requesting that the board cancel a drag show scheduled at the Saengar Theatre on Dec. 23. While he cites why the council can legally stop the show, he does not write that any law has been broken.
DRAG SHOWS ARE NOT ILLEGAL IN FLORIDA: In 2023, SB 1438 was passed and signed into law. I interviewed State Rep. Alex Andrade about the law in May 2023:
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- “This bill simply says you can’t put on a show with children in the audience, knowing that there are children in the audience, that simulates sex acts or exposes genitalia. That’s it. I think the vast majority of drag shows don’t do that.”
The Letter
In his letter, Uthmeier claims, “This annual drag show openly mocks one of the most sacred holidays in the Christian faith. It has been referred to as part of the ‘Naughty Tour,’ where men masquerade as women, claim to put the ho, ho, ho into holidays.”
- He added, “Curtains up on this openly anti-Christian show at the Saenger Theatre will occur just two days before Christmas. 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.”
Background: Winterfest embarks and returns from the old Escambia County Courthouse, not the Saengar Theatre. No child riding the trolley or even walking down Palafox Street will see or hear what’s happening inside the Saenger on Dec. 23. Tours start at 5 p.m., and the drag performance begins at 7:30 p.m.
The Attorney General asserts the event would be “injurious to the public health, safety, or general welfare of the community.” He wrote, “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 Winter Fest, the show poses pronounced threats to the health, safety, and welfare of the community.”
- However, Uthmeier doesn’t claim that the show breaks any laws, only states: “Failure to stop this sacrilege and misuse of public funds raises serious concerns about the city’s stewardship of public property.”
Read AGJU LTR to Pensacola_Final.
Sounds Familiar?
The letter will make University of West Florida Trustee Zack Smith, who was upset UWF held drag shows in 2019 and has campaigned to shut down this one at the Saenger. In fact, Uthmeier’s letter uses many of Smith’s arguments in his article – “Pensacola Theater Insists on Hosting Blasphemous Christmas Drag Show” for The Daily Signal.
- Is Attorney General Uthmeier worried about the Hope Florida Grand Jury and trying to build support in Rep. Alex Andrade’s home district? Maybe.