Last weekend, a church in Texas provided a lightning rod for protesters and counter-protesters by inviting members of “all ages” to a drag event to assist so-called “transgender and exploratory” minors .
On Saturday night, First Christian Church in Katy, Texas, an affiliate of the Disciple of Christ Church, hosted a game of Drag Queen Bingo, dubbed Family Fun.
“[W]We’ve created a place where people really feel welcome and think there’s always going to be people who disagree with us,” he said of the church’s pastor, Pastor Heather Tolleson.
The purpose of the bingo event – and the adults-only resistance that came later that night – was to raise money for the church’s “Clear Closet,” a helpful resource, “for teens, youth and young adults who are trans and explorers. of adults” can find cross-gender clothing, sneakers and equipment such as cosmetics.
The church itself claims to be “a place where all are welcome,” and in fact all the occasions and companies listed on its website are indirectly related to the LGBTQ point.
Still, the all-age drag event has angered many others in the neighborhood, including mum and dad and members of different church buildings, who claim that drag queens and their sponsors don’t have any businesses promoting this leisure activity to young people.
Rebecca Clark, a member of Fort Bend County Residents Defending Freedom, denounced the drag bingo incident.
“We’re fed up with tolerating the exploitation and sexualization of our young people in this country,” Clark said, referring to the example of the times.
“Drag queens and kids don’t go together,” adds CCDF’s Sarah Feigleson. “These occasions are happening in your yard.
Members of the Proud Boys joined the CCDF to protest the occasion, as did the different church buildings. Some Catholics pray the Rosary.
Supporters of Family Drag Bingo Day along the way. Antifa members are dressed in all black and painted on their faces. Others not affiliated with Antifa proudly displayed their identities and helped to expose young people to LGBTQ-themed leisure activities.
“[D]The rag itself is just a costume,” said an unnamed man wearing a mask and holding a happy flag. “It’s not all that different from someone dressing up as a superhero at a comic convention or wearing a Halloween costume. “
Each side is heavily armed and a steady police presence appears in the middle of the road to keep the peace throughout the drag bingo night. There has been no experience of violence or arrests and only church members are allowed on the property.
While the occasion itself was controversial, there was another dimension that drew more anger from critics. The occasion was originally meant to showcase drag queen Tisha Flowers, aka Jaysen Kettl. Not only does Keitel now deal with a creepy feature when dressing up as a flower, but he also has a disturbing past. In 2004, Keitel, then 17, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit capital killings after faculty realized he and at least one different student had planned a mass arrest at a university. Fortunately, the conspiracy was foiled before anyone could carry it out.
However, when Keitel’s prison history was acknowledged, the church quietly removed his patronage. It’s unclear if Keitel attended the event.
Reverend Tolleson claimed that regardless of the controversy, the occasion was considered a success.
‘We’re tired of tolerating…the sexualization of our youth’: Armed protests emerge outside ‘all ages’ drag bingo event at Texas church