Miami ‘kids at drag show’ case headed to court

The state’s fight against R House, the Miami restaurant targeted for hosting drag shows that children attended, soon will be before a state administrative law judge. 

A lawyer for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, or DBPR, filed a request earlier this month for the case to be moved to the Division of Administrative Hearings. The department is moving against the establishment’s liquor license. 

R House’s “drag show brunch” made news last summer when a video surfaced showing a child “walking with a drag performer dressed in lingerie,” NBC Miami reported. ‘Kids at drag shows’ soon became a conservative talking point, adding another topic to the national culture wars agenda. 

DBPR “actually had agents going to this place and effectively just gathering information, getting intelligence, seeing what’s going on,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the time. “And what they found was not only were there minors there – and these are sexually explicit drag shows – the bar had a children’s menu. And you think to yourself: ‘Give me a break, what’s going on?’”

“The clothing and dances typically are sexually suggestive and sometimes sexually explicit – consistent with what one would observe at an adult-themed nightclub,” the complaint says. R House “is not merely aware that young children attend the Brunch, but specifically markets the Brunch performances to young children or to families with young children.”

A lawyer for the restaurant, which is in the city’s Wynwood section, countered that “although some or even many people may consider it inappropriate to bring minors to a restaurant featuring revealing attire or drag performances, doing so is not illegal. The government should not penalize a minority business because parents chose to introduce their child to the art of drag performances ….”

In her response, Coral Gables attorney Jane Muir also said “drag performances have artistic value (and) can be humorous, acrobatic, and technically skilled in pantomime and dance,” and are “expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment” that “meet community standards for decency and morals.” 

The state this month filed a similar complaint against the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation, alleging that the nonprofit group “held a sexually explicit drag show in December in the presence of minors,” NBC News also reported. 

Other states now are trying to legislate the problem away:

— The Montana House of Representatives last week passed a measure “limiting drag performances in public spaces,” the Daily Inter Lake reported. It would ban shows “in any public location where a minor is present. It also would ban minors from entering a business deemed as sexually-oriented during a strip show or drag performance.”

— Tennessee GOP Gov. Bill Lee this week said he intends to sign a bill passed by that state’s legislature restricting where drag shows can take place, the Washington Post reported. That bill “makes it illegal for anyone to engage in ‘adult cabaret’ performances on public property or in a place where children might see them.”

— On the other hand, the South Dakota Senate’s education committee killed a bill this week that was aimed at “preventing events like a recent drag show hosted by a student organization at South Dakota State University from ever happening again,” the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported. 

“Drag originated in 19th century British theater and has heavy roots in modern LGBTQ+ culture,” the newspaper added. "It is a form of performance and entertainment that challenges assumptions of gender identity and expression."