A scheduled “child-friendly” drag queen event on Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada has been canceled after Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) requested answers from Pentagon commanders about why it was happening when they professed not to promote them on bases.
“HUGE VICTORY: The Department of Defense has CANCELED a scheduled ‘child-friendly’ drag show after I demanded answers from @SecDef Austin and General Milley!” Gaetz tweeted.
HUGE VICTORY: The Department of Defense has CANCELED a scheduled "child-friendly" drag show after I demanded answers from @SecDef Austin and General Milley!
Drag shows should not be taking place on military installations with taxpayer dollars PERIOD!
READ:… https://t.co/YDByQihQod pic.twitter.com/vnJiuFlh2z
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) May 31, 2023
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Nellis LGBTQ+ Pride Council posted on their Facebook page, “The Nellis LGBTQ+ Pride Council is saddened to inform you that we are no longer able to host our annual Pride Month Drag Show on Nellis AFB. We have received notification that the DoD has directed Commanders not to host Drag events on military installations.”
It then included various non-drag show Pride Month events on base, such as a panel, a “Paint with Pride” event, a color run at the base gym, a mixer, and a memorial walk.
“We will continue to celebrate the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community during PRIDE month.” It said, “Come show your PRIDE with us!”
Gaetz previously asked Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense, and General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff if they condoned drag queen story hour or other events to be held on military bases.
Gaetz presented them with evidence after they claimed they were unaware of them, even delivering Milley a folder of news stories about numerous drag queen events held on military bases. Austin and Milley eventually stated that they did not agree with the happenings on base.
“Drag queen story hours is not something that the Department funds,” Austin explained at the time.
Earlier this month, Gaetz issued a letter to Austin and Milley asking for explanations as to why a drag event had been scheduled for the first of June at Nellis Air Force Base.
According to NBC News, Air Force authorities approved the concert, but Austin and Milley informed the Air Force that it is not DOD policy to finance drag shows on bases and that the show should be canceled or relocated. Milley was said to be “visibly angry” with the choice to have the event on base.
“Consistent with Secretary Austin’s congressional testimony, the Air Force will not host drag events at its installations or facilities. Commanders have been directed to either cancel or relocate these events to an off-base location,” an Air Force official told NBC News.
“Per DoD Joint Ethics Regulation (JER), certain criteria must be met for persons or organizations acting in non-Federal capacity to use DoD facilities and equipment. As Secretary Austin has said, the DOD will not host drag events at U.S. military installations or facilities. Hosting these types of events in federally funded facilities is not a suitable use of DOD resources,” Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, told NBC News.
Breitbart News initially reported in June 2021 on Nellis AFB’s drag queen show, “Drag-u-Nellis.”
