DeSantis suggests state may ‘deal with’ parents who take children to sexualized drag queen shows

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week strongly implied that the state might take action against parents who take their children to highly sexualized environments like that of a recent “drag queen” show in Texas at which many children were present.

Controversy exploded over the past week after widespread video showed a Dallas-area event in which children watched men dressed as women performing dance and burlesque routines at a bar. 

Advocates and conservatives criticized the event, though many LGBT activists celebrated it as a positive environment for children. 

DeSantis, meanwhile, suggested this week that, were the event to occur in Florida, parents might face consequences for taking their children to it. 

“[W]e may have the ability to deal with that if something like that happens,” he told media when asked at a press conference about the controversy. 

“You had these very young kids, and they must have been like 9, 10 years old, at a quote, 'drag show’,” DeSantis said, referencing a much-circulated picture in which a child was seen stuffing dollar bills into the underwear of a man. 

“That is totally inappropriate. That is not something that children should be exposed to,” he added.

The governor added that kids used to be “off-limits - used to be everybody agreed with that.”

“Now it just seems like there's a concerted effort to be exposing kids more and more to things that are not age appropriate,” he argued.